CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings fired back at former Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa’s suggestion on Sunday that Iran was not a direct threat to the U.S.

Hinojosa claimed that President Donald Trump failed to prove that Iran posed a “real, true threat” to the U.S. and thus should have received approval from Congress before bombing three nuclear sites on Saturday night. Jennings argued that the Iranian regime has directly threatened the U.S. by repeatedly chanting “death to America” and by killing Americans.

“But I will say … in order for the president to take action without congressional approval, he needed to show that there was a real, true threat to the United States and that the strike would not cause escalation … We have not heard from [the Department of Defense] what is happening there, so what will be critical in the weeks to come is Congress must see the underlying intelligence about how they were an indirect threat and how the U.S. needed to respond without congressional approval. But as of right now, I have not seen that,” Hinojosa said.

“You’re arguing that after 46 years of the Iranian regime killing Americans, threatening Americans, saying over and over and over again, ‘death to America,’ that maybe … they just didn’t mean it?” Jennings replied. “That they were fiery but mostly peaceful Iranian butchers? Like I don’t understand. This is a righteous strike.” (RELATED: JD Vance Says US ‘Not At War’ With Iran)

WATCH:

Trump, along with many members of Congress, have argued that the “death to America” chants are a true threat to the safety of the U.S. and a justification to bomb nuclear sites. Following the bombings, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in their statements that the president simply could not allow Iran to build nuclear weapons due to its commitment to bring “death to America.”

Resurfaced footage from 2018 showed Iranian parliament members chanting the slogan and burning a paper American flag on the parliament floor to protest Trump’s decision to pull out of the 2015 international nuclear deal.

Iranian-backed groups and weaponry were responsible for the deaths of 603 U.S. troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, according to the Military Times, citing the Pentagon. By estimation, Iran’s military actions may have led to the deaths of over 1,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the last decade and a half.

Trump warned Iran during an address to the U.S. on Saturday night that the nation will witness attacks “far greater” than it has ever seen if the nation does not seek peace. He called the action a “very successful attack” that “completely and totally obliterated” nuclear enrichment facilities in the region.

Richard Stengel, an Obama-era under secretary of state for public affairs, said on MSNBC during a Thursday segment that Iranians chanted “death to America” in a peaceful manner. He further argued that the U.S. “has much more in common” with Iran than other allied nations, though Iran has a history of abusing its citizens and violating their basic human rights.

Since 1979, women have faced the threats of fines, arrests and even public flogging for violating Iran’s hijab regulations that require them to completely cover their hair. In September 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in the hospital after being beaten by the “morality police” for violating these regulations, which sparked mass protests across the country.

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