Trump Tweets Support For Iranians While Banning Them From The U.S.
President Donald Trump once again praised Iran’s anti-government protesters on Tuesday ― and the irony was not lost on many, given his administration’s repeated attempts to block Iranians from coming to the U.S.
“The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime,” Trump tweeted early Tuesday morning. “The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!”
The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018
Trump and his administration have repeatedly praised demonstrators since protests broke out against the Iranian government last week.
But several people ― including Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations ― have called out Trump for being hypocritical. Although he claims to support everyday Iranians’ rights, his administration has spent the last year fighting in court to enforce a policy banning them from coming to the U.S.
We stand with the Iranian people so much that we won’t let them come here. https://t.co/fzbv8idiiJ
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) January 1, 2018
Really cool that Trump suddenly cares about Iranians after spending the entire first year of his presidency trying to ban them all from the country.
— Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani (@AdrienneMahsa) January 1, 2018
The hypocrisy of the Trump Admin towards the Iranian people is stunning. If you stand with the people under oppression LIFT THE TRAVEL BAN. Many innocent 😇 Iranians want to leave but visa denials are at the highest rate due to the #travelban. #IranianProtests #تظاهرات https://t.co/QkRbaJGD5y
— Mana Yegani (@Law_Mana) December 31, 2017
"If an Iranian dissident wanted to come to the U.S. right now, he would not be allowed in under Trump’s ridiculous travel ban solely because of his nationality." https://t.co/krAnXWcZe7
— The American Conservative (@amconmag) January 2, 2018
Thousands of people across Iran have poured into the streets over the last week to protest the government and religious leadership. More than 20 people have died as law enforcement has cracked down on protesters speaking out against corruption and calling out economic and social issues in the conservative, religious country.
In one of his first tweets of the new year, the president declared his support for “the great Iranian people” and said they were “hungry for food & for freedom.”
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Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
The tweets came almost exactly a year after the Trump administration’s first immigration ban blocked Iranians and other people from largely Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. In the latest iteration of the ban ― which was announced in September and has since been mired in legal challenges ― citizens from eight nations, including Iran, are indefinitely banned from entering the U.S.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.