Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked whether President Trump was “too mentally incapacitated” to realize he set the stage for the growth of Iran’s nuclear program during his first term.

“Has President Trump learned nothing from decades of U.S. meddling in Iran and forever wars in the Middle East?” Kaine asked. “Is he too mentally incapacitated to realize that we had a diplomatic agreement with Iran that was keeping its nuclear program in check, until he ripped it up during his first term?”

Trump in 2018 withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) initially signed in 2015, a deal that was effectively blocking Iran’s pathway to building a bomb.

In launching an attack on Iran Saturday, the president said the move was necessary to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

That argument comes after the U.S. military launched strikes on Iran last June, with Trump at the time asserting the U.S. had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program.

That claim generated much pushback, with skeptics arguing Iran wasn’t on the brink of developing a weapon, while additional intelligence showed the strikes landed in other Iranian facilities and only set their nuclear development back by a few months.

“For months, I have raised hell about the fact that Americans want lower prices, not more wars – especially wars that aren’t authorized by Congress, as required by the Constitution, and don’t have a clear objective,” Kaine continued Saturday.

“These strikes are a colossal mistake, and I pray they do not cost our sons and daughters in uniform and at our embassies throughout the region their life,” he added.

Several Democrats have come out against the strikes, blasting the administration for exacerbating tensions in the region and warned the White House could be dragging the U.S. into a wider war. Many lawmakers have also pressed for more transparency following the attack and ramped up pressure for a vote on a war powers resolution.

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