A journalist has been praised after challenging Donald Trump over his outlandish claims that Iran might have bombed one of their own schools with a US missile.
At a press conference on Monday, Trump baselessly claimed that the strike on an Iranian elementary school could have been carried out by Iran or “somebody else.”
This was despite video evidence that a US Tomahawk missile had struck the naval base next to the school.
When he was asked if the USA would accept responsibility for the strike, which resulted in the deaths of 168 people, including around 110 children, Trump claimed the attack could have been carried out by Iran.
On Saturday, the president had said he believed the attack was “done by Iran because they’re very inaccurate” when he was speaking to reporters on Air Force One.
When he repeated the claims at Monday’s press conference though, the New York Times’ White House correspondent Shawn McCreesh took him to task.
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“You just suggested Iran somehow got its hands on a Tomahawk and bombed its own elementary school on the first day of the war, but you’re the only person in your government saying this,” he told Trump.
“Even your defence secretary wouldn’t say that when he was asked, standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday.”
McCreesh then asked Trump: “Why are you the only person saying this?”
Trump said this was because “I just don’t know enough about it.”
“It’s something that I was told is under investigation, but Tomahawks are used by others,” he continued. “As you know, numerous other nations have Tomahawks. They buy them from us.”
The clip of the question has been widely shared on social media, where many have praised McCreesh for his question, with some even suggesting it was Pulitzer prize-worthy.
Also during Monday’s press conference, Trump said he thinks the war is “very complete, pretty much” and that the US is “very far ahead of schedule.”
However, in the very same press conference, he said the US “haven’t won enough,” once again supporting the idea that this was a conflict the US bulldozed into with no clear plan or objective.
This was perhaps best highlighted when Trump suggested to reporters that the US had launched the offensive because he believed Iran was “going to attack us.”