In the recent wake of the death of 63-year-old Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, the Biden Administration is facing severe backlash from congressional Republicans. Regarding the passing of the Iranian President in a helicopter crash on Sunday, May 19th, the Biden Administration stated their condolences which did not sit well with many Republicans.
Former Iranian President Raisi was elected president of Iran in 2021, after serving a lengthy prosecutorial career. Raisi was infamously known as the Butcher of Tehran by his enemies, as he was involved in the highly controversial execution of political prisoners by Iranian authorities in 1988. In October of 2023, Raisi praised the malicious Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians. This past Sunday, former President Raisi and Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian, along with others died after a fatal helicopter crash in a foggy mountainous region of northwest Iran.
The Biden administration gave their condolences this week following Raisi’s death. A slew of outrage from House Republicans quickly followed the statement. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer posted to his X account that it was “absurd” for the Biden campaign to express their strong views on human rights, but at the same time honor the death of the infamous Iranian president. Republican Senator Tom Cotton posted on his X account that it was a “disgrace” to honor Raisi who helped terrorists with American blood on their hands. The Republican Jewish Coalition also commented on the matter calling the statement, “mortifying”.
On the other side of things, the State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller showed his support for the Iranian people as they set to elect a new president, while also defending the Biden Administration’s condolence statement. At a press conference on Monday, Miller defended the statement by referring to the U.S. previously giving condolences to former enemies such as Josef Stalin and Hugo Chavez, a former president of Venezuela, whom Miller stated are people the U.S. has had disagreements with.
