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Kamala Harris and Jen Psaki mocked for old tweets condemning Trump as Joe Biden launches airstrikes in Syria

The Biden administration was sending a 'message' to Tehran in response to recent rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq

Vice President Kamala Harris and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki are facing significant backlash after their old tweets resurfaced following US airstrikes against Syria on Thursday, February 25.

President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against facilities that were allegedly held by Iran-backed militia, according to the Pentagon. The Biden administration was sending a "message" to Tehran in response to recent rocket attacks on US troop locations in Iraq, according to a report by news.com.au.

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Netizens were quick to point out tweets from Harris in 2018 when she condemned strikes ordered by former President Donald Trump.

“I strongly support our men and women in uniform and believe we must hold Assad accountable for his unconscionable use of chemical weapons. But I am deeply concerned about the legal rationale of last night’s strikes,” Harris said at the time. “The president needs to lay out a comprehensive strategy in Syria in consultation with Congress — and he needs to do it now.”

Observers also pulled up a tweet by Psaki from 2017, where she questioned Trump's "legal authority" in ordering airstrikes against Syria. "Assad is a brutal dictator," she wrote, "But Syria is a sovereign country."

 
Trump ordered the strikes on Syria along with French and British forces after the US, French and the UK governments determined the Syrian government had targeted civilians in the Douma chemical attack in April that year.

“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilized by Iranian-backed militant groups in eastern Syria,” said spokesman John Kirby in a statement. “These strikes were authorized in response to recent attacks against American and Coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel."

Nonetheless, critics poked fun at Biden's press secretary after her old tweet resurfaced. "Prediction: Before the day is over, Jen Psaki will remind someone that the bombing in Syria is being directed by a Black Secretary of Defense," one user quipped. "Care to circle back on this comment after Biden bombed Syria today??" another added.

Meanwhile, others lashed out at VP Harris and the Biden administration for their apparent hypocrisy. "Kamala Harris says she was not notified before the Syria attack. Was Joe?" former Trump staffer George Papadopoulos quipped.

"So, @PressSec @jrpsaki questioned the legitimacy of US strikes on Syria. @VP @KamalaHarris said the legal rationale is bunk. Still waiting for my reporter colleagues to ask..." reporter Adam Kredo wrote. "Bombing Syria 36 days after taking power. Ladies and gents, the uni-party is back," reporter Alex Salvi added.

While Kirby did not reveal whether there were any casualties, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 17 people were killed after the strikes hit three trucks loaded with firearms and ammunition coming from Iraq near the Syrian city of Bukamal, according to news.com.au. The victims were reportedly from Iraq’s state-sponsored Hashed al-Shaabi, an overarching force that controls many small militias that have ties to Iran.

Back in October 2019, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden criticized then-President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Northern Syria, calling it "erratic" and "impulsive."

"The events of the past week… have had devastating clarity of just how dangerous this president is," Biden said during a speech in Iowa about Trump's decision, alleging he had "abandoned" Kurdish allies in the region.