On Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, spoke to a reporter in a patronizing tone when the journalist posed a direct question about the war with Iran, and the reply only served to deepen the confusion.
Leavitt appeared unwavering as she defended Donald Trump’s latest assertion that the clash has already produced a “regime change,” even though essential details about who is currently leading Iran, and whether any agreement exists at all, remain unclear.
Trump has been insisting that Iran’s leadership is “completely different” and that a deal is basically within reach, despite Iran publicly denying negotiations and ongoing mixed signals from his own administration.
“This war has been won,” Trump stated in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “The only one that likes to keep it going is the fake news.”
“We killed all their leadership,” he told CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe. “And then they met to choose new leaders and we killed all of them. And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”
“Their entire leadership has been killed, and no one has really seen or legitimately heard from this new alleged leader,” Leavitt added.
Yet Leavitt’s misreading or attempt to steer the narrative did not go unnoticed by viewers.
“These people need a dictionary. Regime is not one person. It’s a system of government. That has not changed,” one observer wrote. “I think when your goal is regime change it’s not usually “change for the worse! Mission accomplished!” but what do I know,” another person retorted.
“There had not been and there is no plan on Iran fiasco! THERE IS NO plan!” another commenter concluded.
According to Britannica, a regime is “the overthrow of a government considered illegitimate by an external force, leading to its replacement with a new government aligned with the interests of that force.”
