'Let me speak for one freaking second': GOP pundit silenced after defending Iran chaos

Conservative writer Noah Rothman apologized on CNN Thursday night after repeatedly interrupting liberal influencer Leigh McGowan as she refuted his claim that President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Iran had “succeeded.”

Trump has faced heightened scrutiny since having brokered a peace deal with Iran amid his administration's war against the Middle East nation, a deal that critics say is far less favorable to the United States than the deal brokered by former President Barack Obama in 2015, one that Trump ripped up in 2018.

Rothman insisted during a lively CNN panel that Trump’s negotiations – which included a threat to destroy Iran’s entire civilization – had “succeeded,” a claim that McGowan tried to refute by referencing Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal. As McGowan spoke, however, Rothman interjected several times, prompting a fierce reaction from the liberal influencer.

“Can you actually just let me speak for like one freaking second, bro?” McGowan pleaded.

“Sorry. Sure,” Rothman said.

“Thank you so much,” McGowan said with a sarcastic tone.

Under the Iran nuclear deal, Iran had agreed to allow international inspections and monitoring of its nuclear program, and pledged to not pursue nuclear weapons. In exchange, the United States issued Iran hundreds of millions of dollars as repayment for “Iranian funds frozen decades earlier,” per CNN. The Strait of Hormuz – a critical shipping channel – would also remain open to international trade.

Under the Trump administration’s tentative ceasefire agreement it reached with Iran, the Middle East nation is asking for compensation for damages caused by the United States and Israel, compensation it proposes it collects through charging fees for vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is also asking that its ability to enrich uranium be permitted.

“There was a deal, Trump came in and said I can get a better deal, he ripped it up, and he didn’t get a better deal. Then he went into that country at the request of another country’s leader; he spent $50 billion; killed thousands of civilians and at least 13 American soldiers; we’ve hurt our bases; people hate America now,” McGowan said.

“We had a president say we’re going to destroy an entire civilization! That’s like if I came home, held a gun to my wife’s head and I said – for 13 hours – ‘I’m going to kill you, I’m going to blow your brains out – just kidding, we’ll talk about it again in two weeks’ – that does not make you a good negotiator, it makes you psychotic! So no, this is not some winning strategy!”