White House falsely claims 'Obama killed Gaddafi' to justify Soleimani strike

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

published 10 January 2020

White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley didn't do a great job defending his employer on this one.

As Democrats and some Republicans continue to criticize President Trump's decision to assassinate Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Gidley chimed in to compare it to the killings of several controversial leaders during former President Barack Obama's presidency. But as journalists and former Obama officials made clear, Gidley's comparisons weren't exactly accurate.

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Gidley's tweet came just after Fox News aired a clip of Trump telling network host Laura Ingraham that "I think" Soleimani was planning to attack "four embassies" when he was assassinated, and "that it was probably going to be the embassy in Baghdad." This begs the question that The New York Times' Maggie Haberman later tweeted in response to Gidley: "Why not release the intel since POTUS keeps talking about it?"

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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