Oftentimes Donald Trump’s remarks do not match up with things the rest of us know to be true, but thankfully Rudy Giuliani has stepped up to act as an interpreter. For instance, last week the former New York mayor revealed that in his own alternate reality, Trump disavowed birtherism two years ago.
Giuliani was at it again Sunday on This Week, explaining that there was nothing offensive about Trump’s recent argument that the U.S. should have seized Iraq’s oil, because, “If we would have taken the oil, you wouldn’t have ISIS, because ISIS formed with the power and the wealth of that oil.” George Stephanopoulos asked if that’s legal, to which Giuliani replied, with a laugh, “Of course it’s legal. It’s a war.” He added, “Until the war is over, anything’s legal.”
As CNN notes, that’s not true outside Trump World, and that argument is actually pretty ironic:
The Geneva Conventions prohibit countries from seizing others’ property, even in war – the exact justification the United States used during its 1990 invasion of Iraq, after Iraq had seized Kuwait’s oil.
Another irony: “America’s Mayor” spent the 15th anniversary of 9/11 defending a candidate who’s argued for a ban on Muslim immigration. The New York Times recalled this weekend that Giuliani was once known for denouncing GOP extremists and calling for unity following the attack.
When asked about the Times article, Giuliani said people should “worry about my legacy after I’m dead,” because right now he’s fighting for what he believes in — specifically, a more aggressive approach to terrorism that leaves open the possibility of a larger U.S. military commitment in the fight against ISIS. “When Hillary said, ‘I’m not going to put any troops in,’ you might as well stop trying to deal with them,” he said. “I mean, now they know you’re a patsy.”
