To watch the “Republican of the Week” try to defend the words of President Trump on the Sunday talk show circuit is always entertaining.
This week’s version includes Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense, who was asked on CNN’s State of the Union about Trump’s claim that four U.S. embassies were being targeted by Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
Key quote here: “What the President said was he believed it probably could have been. He didn’t cite intelligence.”
The dance continued on CBS’ Face The Nation:
When the administration briefed members of Congress, no mention was made of threats to four embassies. Robert O’Brien, the acting national security adviser, appeared on Fox.
The Washington Post reported this weekend that no warning was given to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad:
“The embassy in Baghdad did not receive an alert commensurate to the threat Trump described, said a person familiar with the situation, who was not authorized to comment publicly. When the U.S. government has specific information about threats to embassies, warnings or alerts are often sent to embassy personnel to be vigilant.“