In March 2011, Barack Obama ordered airstrikes against Libya with the stated goal of removing Muammar Gaddafi from power. Congress never formally authorized the operation. There was, of course, a debate over presidential war powers, and back then, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi flat-out said President Obama didn’t need Congress’s okay to bomb Libya.
“You’re saying that the president did not need authorization initially and still does not need any authorization from Congress on Libya?” a reporter asked her.
“Yes,” Pelosi responded, with no hesitation whatsoever.
Resurfaced video of Nancy Pelosi asked about Obama bombing Libya,
He “did not need authorization” to use forcepic.twitter.com/0UrTWqewfx
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) March 2, 2026
Fast forward to today, and Democrats are pretending to be outraged that Trump bombed Iran without asking their permission first, calling it an abuse of power. On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries humiliated himself when Fox News’s Bill Melugin cornered him on Democrat hypocrisy over presidential war powers and congressional authorization.
“Back in 2011, Nancy Pelosi said that then-President Obama didn’t need congressional approval to bomb Libya. Now, House Democrats say President Trump needs that approval to bomb Iran. What’s the difference?”
Jeffries flailed. “Well, obviously, Libya and the circumstances connected to that were very different than the circumstance that we face in Iran right now.”
What made it different, exactly? He never said what made the situations different. So, he just played dumb.
And I mean that literally.
“I mean, I don’t even understand the genesis or basis of that question, not suggesting that you’re not asking it in good faith,” Jeffries said.
Melugin pushed back by pointing out that Libya dragged on for seven months.
Jeffries dodged like a child. He pointed out that he wasn’t in Congress then.
Well, then why did he say it was different if he couldn’t explain why?
“So we’re dealing with what we’re dealing with right now, which is a catastrophic endless war, as Donald Trump has characterized it, without any justification that there was going to be a preeminent assault or attack on the United States of America, either in our homeland or as it relates to our interests in the Middle East.”
Endless war? It’s been a couple of days.
“The administration is not even pretending like they have intelligence or information at this point, publicly,” Jeffries continued. “And certainly, there’s been nothing that has been presented to us privately to justify a preemptive strike of this nature that has triggered an all-out war in the Middle East.”
This, of course, is a lie. We have details about the negotiations with Iran that showed they were boasting about their ability to create nuclear weapons. But, more importantly, the Gang of Eight, which includes members of both parties’ top leaders in Congress, including Jeffries, was briefed days earlier that military action might be necessary. We also know that senior Trump administration officials had ironclad intelligence showing Iran was preparing to launch missile attacks on both U.S. military and civilian targets across the Middle East.
NEW: I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about Nancy Pelosi saying in 2011 that President Obama didn’t need Congressional approval to bomb Libya, but Dems now say President Trump needs approval to bomb Iran?
Jeffries said Iran is “very different” & told me “I… pic.twitter.com/SkLr1R5wr1
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 3, 2026
In the end, it’s clear that what Jeffries was actually trying to say was that it’s different because “it’s Trump.” That was such an embarrassing explanation from Jeffries that merely showed he has no idea what he’s talking about.
The left’s opposition to Trump’s bombing of Iran isn’t genuine; it’s just Trump Derangement Syndrome. PJ Media is willing to call out this hypocrisy without flinching, day after day. If you value that kind of unapologetic truth-telling, join PJ Media VIP with promo code FIGHT for 60% off. Your membership keeps us alive, fuels our reporting, and helps us fight back. Don’t wait—stand with fearless conservative journalism today.
