Chuck Schumer calls Trump’s claim of Iran using Tomahawk missile to strike school ‘beyond asinine’
WASHINGTON, DC: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, March 10, sharply criticized President Donald Trump for suggesting that Iran may have used Tomahawk missiles in a strike on a girls’ school, calling the claim “beyond asinine.”
Speaking on the Senate floor, the New York Democrat rejected Trump’s assertion that Iranian Tomahawk missiles were responsible for the attack.
“He claims that Iranian Tomahawk missiles were responsible for the bombing of an all girls school that killed 170 people, including many children,” Schumer said. “Iran doesn’t have Tomahawk missiles, Donald Trump!”
“The claim is beyond asinine,” Schumer added. “He says whatever pops into his head no matter what the truth is.”
Schumer calls for investigation into school attack
Schumer also accused the president of spreading false information about the strike and called for a full inquiry into the incident.
“And we all know he lies but on something as formidable as this, it’s appalling,” Schumer said. “No other leader in the administration, not even Pete Hegseth, is claiming Iranian missiles did this.”
The Democratic leader said he would demand “a full and independent and transparent investigation” into the attack. “There needs to be accountability,” he said.
The Shajarah Tayyebeh Elementary School in the southern Iranian city of Minab was struck on Feb 28 during a military attack that also targeted a nearby base belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Satellite imagery and research cited by the news outlets suggested the strike appeared to originate from the United States.
Iranian state media and health officials reported that 175 people were killed in the attack, though the casualty figures have not been independently verified.
Trump puts the blame on Iran for missile attack
Trump suggested Monday that Iran could have been responsible for the strike after being confronted by reporters with evidence that a Tomahawk missile had been used.
He said the missile type was “very generic” and claimed such weapons are “sold to other countries.”
When pressed further about the claim, which has not been echoed by other US officials, Trump said it was because “I just don’t know enough about it.”
The United States Department of Defense is widely regarded as the only military force involved in the conflict known to use Tomahawk cruise missile.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said Sunday that the public should allow the Pentagon investigation into the strike to proceed.
He also accused Iran of storing weapons and military equipment in civilian locations. “We never deliberately attack civilians,” Waltz said. “If civilians were injured, it’s always by accident.”
