Former Vice President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is using stark imagery in an Iowa mailer that appears to pitch him as a bulwark against the Iranian government, including Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, with whom former President Barack Obama negotiated the Iran nuclear agreement.
HuffPost obtained a four-page piece of campaign literature that the Biden campaign sent to voters in Des Moines.
The mailer’s front features a dark, red-hued drawing of an Iranian tank in the foreground. A soldier standing atop the tank is saluting a row of Iranian military officials led by President Rouhani. A framed photo of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, is in the background alongside them.
“We live in the most dangerous moment in a generation,” the mailer says in bold white font at the bottom. “Who is ready to lead us?”
The back of the pamphlet repeats the same lines, but overlays them on a black-and-white photo of the Oval Office.
Inside, the pamphlet contains information and images promoting Biden’s foreign policy experience ― fairly typical campaign material. A headline in large, navy-blue letters across the top of the two-page spread says, “Joe Biden: Strong, Steady Leadership.” A photo on the third page shows Biden speaking at a lectern with U.S. military service-members and an American flag arrayed behind him.
Still, the message on the mailer’s front evokes an unusual degree of foreign-policy alarmism for a Democratic presidential candidate, particularly concerning Iran.
It suggests that Iran ― rather than, say, the so-called Islamic State, Russia, or China ― represents the greatest threat to the U.S. And it frames the relationship between the two countries as fundamentally belligerent.
The campaign’s inclusion of Rouhani ― a political moderate in the Iranian context, especially given his role in the historic U.S.-Iran nuclear deal in 2015 ― is especially puzzling. Biden is fond of touting the role he played in Obama’s negotiation of the accord with Iran and has vowed, as recently as last week’s Democratic debate in Des Moines, that he would reinstate it if elected president.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated significantly since President Donald Trump announced in May 2018 that his administration would be withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden’s presidential campaign, responded with incredulity at the notion that the mailer was in any way at odds with Biden’s support for the Iran nuclear deal and opposition to Trump’s march to war with Iran. The threat of war that the mailer presents reflects Biden’s concern about Trump’s erratic leadership and how it brought the country to the brink of war with Iran, Bates said.
“I’m not a doctor or theologian, but I can’t understand how sounding the alarm about Donald Trump rushing toward war was anything but called for after the events of this month,” he said. “The Obama-Biden administration used diplomacy to mobilize a global effort and cut off Iran’s pathways to nuclear weapons.
“Donald Trump walked away from an agreement that was working and unleashed a cycle that brought us to the brink of war,” he continued. “Vice President Biden has blasted that decision ever since Trump made it, warning that it would worsen tensions, let Iran off the hook to restart its nuclear program, and make conflict more likely with a country of 80 million people. Unfortunately, he was right.”
Trump has been subjecting Iran to a “maximum pressure” campaign that includes wide-ranging, painful sanctions. The Iranian government has responded by ratcheting up the activities of its proxy militias in Iraq, including a violent mob attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Dec. 31.
Biden, like other national-security hawks in the Democratic Party, shares some of Trump’s suspicion of the Iranian government. But he was critical of Trump’s handling of Soleimani’s killing.
“The haphazard decision-making process that led up to it, the failure to consult our allies or Congress, and the reckless disregard for the consequences that would surely follow — was dangerously incompetent,” Biden said in a speech in New York on Jan. 7.
Affluent Americans may want to double-check how much of their bank deposits are protected by government-backed insurance. The rules governing trust accounts just changed.
Former NBA guard Darius Morris has died at the age of 33. He played for five teams during his four NBA seasons. Morris played college basketball at Michigan.
It’s key to note that we’re not saying the “best team” or “best roster.” Instead, we’re talking about the best confluence of factors that can outline a path for survival and then success.
Teams have made their big splashes in free agency and made their draft picks, it's time for you to do the same. It's fantasy football mock draft time. Some call this time of year best ball season, others know it's an opportunity to get a leg up on your competition for when you have to draft in August. The staff at Yahoo Fantasy did their first mock draft of the 2024 season to help you with the latter. Matt Harmon and Andy Behrens are here to break it all down by each round and crush some staff members in the process.
Budgeting apps can help you keep track of your finances, stick to a spending plan and reach your money goals. These are the best budget-tracking apps available right now.
With free agency and the draft behind us, what 32 teams look like today will likely be what they look like Week 1 and beyond for the 2024 season. Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski reveal the post-draft fantasy power rankings. The duo break down the rankings in six tiers: Elite offensive ecosystems, teams on the cusp of being complete mixed bag ecosystems, offensive ecosystems with something to prove, offenses that could go either way, and offenses that are best to stay away from in fantasy.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate edged back toward 7% this week but remains elevated, prompting housing experts to revise their forecasts for the rest of 2024.
Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman discuss the Padres-Marlins trade that sent Luis Arraez to San Diego, as well as recap all the action from this weekend in baseball and send birthday wishes to hall-of-famer Willie Mays.