During Thursday’s NewsNation “On Balance” broadcast, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby acknowledged that while some of the protests against Israel have been funded and encouraged by Iran, Iran is not behind them. The White House condemned the actions of those protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, saying, “There are many Americans in the United States who are deeply concerned about what is happening in Gaza, and they are expressing their passions through primarily peaceful protests across the country.”
After host Leland Vittert noted that the White House had condemned Wednesday’s events and asked about Iran’s role in the protests, Kirby said:[W]We know that Iran is trying to stoke discord in the United States because the Director of National Intelligence has made it public. In fact, Iran is funding and supporting some of these protests. But I don’t think you can look at the broad scope of the protests over the last few months and say Iran is behind everything. That doesn’t fit the facts. It’s not true. There are a lot of natural concerns in the United States from Americans who are very interested in what’s going on in Gaza, and they’re expressing that passion through mostly peaceful protests across the country. That’s what democracy is all about and that’s what the president stands for. In fact, that’s what he’s trying to protect, and that’s why he decided to step down and not run for reelection.
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