Some Republican opponents of President Trump are praising his decision to send B-2 bombers into Iran Saturday to strike three key nuclear sites.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose family has had a chilly relationship with the president since Mr. Bush lost to Mr. Trump during the contentious 2016 GOP presidential primary, said, “President Trump’s decision to neutralize Iran’s regime’s nuclear program is a watershed moment.”
Mr. Bush, chairman of the nonprofit and nonpartisan organization United Against a Nuclear Iran, said on X, “It reasserts U.S. strength, restores deterrence, and sends an unmistakable message to rogue regimes: the era of impunity is over.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has been criticizing his ex-boss over the last four years since their political conflict over the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol, said “President Trump Made the Right Call to deploy American Forces to strike nuclear sites in Iran and he should be commended for his decisive leadership.”
He said, “Iran could never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. Thanks to the resolve of our Commander in Chief and the courage and professionalism of our Armed Forces, America, Israel and the Free World are safer as a result.”
Mr. Pence said Iran should now “stand down and abandon any thought of retaliation against Americans or be prepared to face the consequences.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, whose relationship with Mr. Trump is seen as tepid, said that his “decision to carry out focused strikes on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure makes clear that the international community will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran.”
She said, “I commend all those who executed this mission with precision and professionalism.”
Former conservative Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol continues to trash Mr. Trump on his X feed on many issues.
However, he reposted on his feed a statement from Jamie Metzl, who served as then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden’s deputy staff director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was a National Security Council member under President Bill Clinton. The statement lauded Mr. Trump’s move to strike Iran’s nuclear sites.
Mr. Metzl said he voted for Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and has been a vocal critic of many “dangerous and undemocratic actions taken by President Trump.”
“But I’m not a blind tribalist and am perfectly comfortable praising President Trump for bold and courageous actions in support of America’s core national interests, as he took last night,” he wrote.
He said, “Iran has been at war with the United States for 46 years. Its regime has murdered thousands of American citizens. Its slogan ’death to America’ was not window dressing but core ideology. It was racing toward a nuclear weapon with every intention of using it to threaten America, our allies, and the Middle East region as a whole.”
Mr. Metzl said although he believes that electing Ms. Harris “would have been better for our democracy, society, and economy, as well as for helping the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world, I also believe VP Harris would not have had the courage or fortitude to take such an essential step as the president took [Saturday night].”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.