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Sanders warns Trump against illegal Iran strike

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is warning Donald Trump that he does not have the legal authority to strike Iran.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at a campaign rally in Dover, New Hampshire, U.S. September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder - RC1771A53780
Democratic 2020 US presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign rally in Dover, New Hampshire, United States, Sept. 1, 2019. — REUTERS/Brian Snyder

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Calibri; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} The attack on the Saudi Aramco oil facility over the weekend and President Donald Trump’s subsequent tweet that the United States is “locked and loaded” immediately prompted presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to fire back.

Sanders and other progressive lawmakers stressed that Trump does not have the legal authority from Congress to launch an offensive strike against Iran. 

“Mr. Trump, the Constitution of the United States is perfectly clear,” Sanders tweeted. “Only Congress — not the President — can declare war. And Congress will not give you the authority to start another disastrous war in the Middle East just because the brutal Saudi dictatorship told you to.”

And in an interview on ABC on Sunday, hours before Trump’s tweet, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana — another 2020 contender — criticized Trump’s maximum pressure strategy against Iran.

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