Bill Clinton slams Trump’s Iran war as ‘not very well thought out', cites his own record

WASHINGTON, DC: Bill Clinton didn’t hold back when talking about Donald Trump and the war with Iran. At a campaign stop in Mississippi for Senate candidate Scott Colom, Clinton slammed Trump’s team for what he described as a rushed, poorly thought-out attack, one that’s been hurting people at the gas pump. He went on to call out what he saw as corruption and grandstanding during Trump’s time in office.

At 80 years old, Clinton questioned why the Trump administration dove into military action without a real exit strategy. He made it clear: he does want Iran to give up its nuclear dreams and, one day, become a real democracy. Still, he said that goal isn’t worth going to war and risking lives. With gas prices spiking and the conflict dragging on, his words hit a nerve, especially with the midterms just around the corner on November 3.

Bill Clinton criticizes Trump’s Iran strikes and rising gas prices

Clinton, 80, continued to joke about his age, noting how whenever he walks into a room, "I'm the oldest person," as he called out Trump while referencing their one-time friendship.

“I think about the high gas prices that are the direct result of a not very well thought out attack on Iran,” he said, while speaking on behalf of Democrat Senate candidate Scott Colom. "Nobody would like it more than me if the Iranians never became a nuclear power and eventually gave over to a genuine democracy."

“We did quite a lot to sabotage their efforts when I was president, but I never thought we should go to war and see a lot of people die because we weren't about to occupy the country,” Clinton added. 

Clinton said he would welcome a future in which Iran did not become a nuclear power and transitioned toward democracy. However, he questioned the decision to use military force without a clear understanding of the consequences.

'You don't start killing people unless you know how you're gonna stop.'

The former president's criticism comes despite his own record of ordering military strikes in the Middle East and other regions.

His administration carried out strikes against Iraq in 1993 and 1996, conducted cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998, and arranged for a further set of strikes against Iraq that same year.

Clinton takes aim at Trump’s ‘corruption’ and personal projects

The ex-president also said he hated 'the corruption, the ego projects,' of the Trump administration, citing Trump's desire to build an arch named after himself. 

Clinton also gave some insight into Trump's love of tariffs, which he has called his 'favorite word' and made a key policy of his second term.

He spoke about how they 'used to have quite a friendly relationship' and how he's 'known President Trump a long time.'

'Twenty-four years ago, we'd play golf. Even then, he believed in these tariffs, he kept saying ''We're the biggest, strongest country in the world, why don't we just put a bunch of tariffs on these countries and stop paying taxes altogether?''

Clinton said he would respond that 'because these people don't just eat the tariffs, they just charge the people who buy the stuff, so we pay the tariffs.'

The Mississippi appearance was part of Democrats' efforts to campaign for Senate candidates ahead of the midterm elections. Clinton spoke in support of Colom, who is running to replace Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

'My friend George Bush once said, ''Democracy is self-correcting.'' We are about to find out in Mississippi if it´s true,' he said, ending by asking the crowd to vote for  Colom.