Steve Schmidt: Trump Killed Soleimani to Create ‘Giant Smokescreen’ Around Impeachment

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Deadline,” Steve Schmidt, John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign manager, accused President Donald Trump of ordering the airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasam Soleimani to distract from impeachment.

Schmidt said, “I think that he is volatile and erratic. I think that’s true. But I don’t think his actions, in this case, are volatile and erratic. I think they’re entirely predictable. And what’s predictable, looking at the Ukraine issue, looking at every issue, is he over and over again acts in his own political interest.”

He continued, “Looking at impeachment. What he did, for sure, is survey the situation and understood that with this action, with this strike, that he would create a giant smokescreen that clouds and distracts around the issue of impeachment.”

Schmidt added, “This is a political act that has endangered the country. Once again, this is Donald Trump acting in the international arena detrimental to American security interests. Now exceeding the outrageousness in Ukraine by an order of magnitude for self. And the result of this is a more dangerous world where Americans will be killed that otherwise would not have been killed.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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