COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio Republican congressman said President Donald Trump was being "hyperbolic" and showing "bravado" after the commander in chief threatened to kill "a whole civilization" if Iran doesn't reopen its major oil route.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Tuesday morning. "I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will."
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His comments prompted fear from Democratic U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown (OH-11) ahead of Trump's 8 p.m. deadline to come up with a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
"It was reckless, it's embarrassing, it's insane," she said, further criticizing the president. "It's frightening, to be honest, that this is the person who is in charge right now."
But the post was also explained away.
"The president has his way of negotiating, which is unique to him," Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (OH-14). "I don't speak to the things that he talks about or writes about on his social media."
Joyce downplayed Trump’s comments, saying it was a tactic to get the Iranian leadership to make a deal.
"Do you think that this is just hyperbole?" I asked him.
"I think anybody who's dealt with President Trump since 2015, when he came down the escalator, realizes that he talks a lot in hyperbole," the congressman responded.
On social media and in news conferences in prior days, Trump also threatened to attack power plants and bridges. When asked if bombing civilian infrastructure could be a war crime, he said he wasn't "worried about it."
"Do you condone that he said he's not at all worried about committing war crimes?" I asked Joyce.
"You have to measure what happens versus what the president says," Joyce responded. "But right now I'd like to think that part of the bluster and bravado of what the president has to say should be measured against what he actually does."
But Brown brought up how the lives of millions of people are at stake — and said Trump's comments are dangerous and inappropriate.
"This is a president who continues to make threats," Brown said. "It's no way to govern, and it's clear that he doesn't have a plan on how to get out of this 'war of choice,' one that he solely decided, that was unauthorized by Congress."
Democrats are now urging Republicans to reconvene and end the war as soon as possible.
"Once we get this back in session next week, we'll have a good chance to have a serious discussion with the White House on where we're going moving forward," Joyce said.
Our news team found Joyce at an unrelated ribbon-cutting event on Tuesday afternoon; no other Republican in Ohio's congressional delegation responded to us with a comment. U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (OH-5) offered an interview at a later date.
Brown, noting that Joyce was a friend, said she was disappointed in his response.
"When my Republican colleagues don't push back or stand up or do their jobs, then [Trump] just continues to push the boundaries and really it's putting this fragile thing we call democracy at great risk," she said.
More than just putting democracy at risk, she added that this puts Americans, Iranians and other civilians in the Middle East in danger. It is also costing hundreds of millions, if not one billion, dollars per day, according to the center-right think tank American Enterprise Institute.
"Is this war a good use of taxpayer money?" I asked Joyce.
"Look, for 47 years they've exacerbated the situation in the Middle East," he responded. "They've wreaked havoc in every country and spread terrorism beyond their own borders, and so eventually they needed to be stopped... We're going to do what's necessary to finally put this cancer to rest."
Brown said there are problems in the United States worth dealing with, as this war is unconstitutional. But she did have a message for unhappy Ohioans:
"They have an opportunity right now to cast their ballot and hold folks accountable," Brown said.
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
