BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said on Friday the assault by President Donald Trump’s supporters on the U.S. Capitol this week shows the “reality of American democracy, which they tried to spread around the world.”
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah described Trump as “stupid” and a “killer” in a televised speech, blasting the U.S. leader’s Mideast policies, including the Washington-directed airstrike in Baghdad a year ago that killed Iran’s top general Qassim Soleimani, along with Iraq’s militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Nasrallah said the attack on the Capitol showed that Trump can also “kill his own people.” Wednesday’s violence in Washington left four people dead, including one protester.
The remarks were Nasrallah’s first since Wednesday. The U.S. has labelled Hezbollah a terrorist group.
“His criminal policies have been revealed to his own people,” Nasrallah said of Trump. “Even Americans felt that he can kill them.”
Nasrallah said he hopes the world will be spared Trump’s policies over the next days, warning that “the nuclear button is at the hands of a crazy, racist and stupid person.”
On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she has spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about preventing an “unhinged” Trump from ordering military actions including a possible nuclear strike in his final days and hours at the White House.