Weijia Jiang, a CBS News reporter, confronted White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki at a briefing recently. She asked Psaki about the video from Iran that portrayed a mock drone assassination of former President Donald Trump.
Jiang referenced the video and then asked the Press Secretary if the intelligence community was assessing this threat and also working with former President Trump in providing protection of any kind.
Psaki answered the reporter by saying that she was not going to speak to the issue of the intelligence community. She did add that this kind of offensive talk and behavior was common from the leader of Iran.
Jiang tried some follow-up questions, but Psaki said that she did not have any more details on the matter.
Later, an interesting response came from the White House to Jiang. She was given information from the administration that condemned the video and again noted that intelligence issues were not discussed publicly. The responses added “The United States will protect and defend its citizens. This includes those serving the United States now and those who formerly served.”
The video from Iran was released on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s website. It shows a drone strike on former President Trump while he is playing golf at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
It was reported in The Times of Israel that the animated video was entered into a contest marking the killing of Iran’s Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani on January 3, 2020. He was killed by an American drone strike in Baghdad. The video portrays an agent manning the drone through a remote ground vehicle that is in surveillance as former President Trump is playing a round of golf. Just before the actual strike, which is not shown, there is a text message sent to the former president which says that Soleimani’s murderer will pay the price along with the one who gave the order.
The Times of Israel also reported that the video mirrored a propaganda poster from last year that also showed Trump on a golf course. The poster called for revenge for Soleimani’s slaying.
This video propaganda comes on the heels of a threat that was made by Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Quds Force (IRGC) Brigadier General Esmaeil Qaani. He said: “We will prepare ground for the hard revenge against the US from within their homes, as we do not need to be present as supervisors everywhere, wherever is necessary we take revenge against Americans with the help of people on their side and within their own homes without our presence.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was also asked this week if there have been “threats” that have been made by Iran in particular against the officials who worked with former President Trump and were involved in the Soleimani strike.
Psaki said that they have certainly seen concerning public rhetoric from Iranian officials about individuals from previous administrations. She said that it was unacceptable.
IRGC Brigadier General Esmaeil Qaani, commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, made a public threat indicating that Iran would seek revenge for Soleimani’s death and that it would happen “within” the United States. He went so far as to say that the revenge would happen within the homes of those sought after. He said that they have supervisors everywhere and they would seek revenge against Americans by people on their side and within their own homes.
IRGC Deputy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Ali Fadavi echoed this threat sagging that Iran would strike the U.S. when the time was right.
