Posted on 03/20/2023 7:08:46 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
A Texas politician has claimed that he worked with a senior member of Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign to convince Iran to delay releasing its hostages during the crisis of 1979 in a bid to derail Jimmy Carter's re-election bid.
Ben Barnes, Texas's former lieutenant governor, has claimed in an interview with The New York Times that John Connally Jr – once a governor of the same state and a high-ranking member of Reagan's election team – took him on a secret diplomatic tour of the Middle East as part of a scheme to damage Carter by convincing Iran to hold on to its American hostages until after the election.
Mr Carter was the US president when 52 diplomats and US citizens were taken hostage at the American embassy in Tehran by college students who supported the Iranian revolution.
Despite diplomatic efforts from the White House, the hostages were held for 444 days and the political crisis significantly damaged the Democratic president's attempt to be re-elected. Mr Carter was heavily defeated by his Republican rival in the election of 1980.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
This same politician claimed previously to have helped George W Bush get “avoid the draft.” Yup: He’s Rather-gate guy.
Did any of the “journalists” check out if this guy ever booked a flight to Tehran? A flight to an airport that still served Tehran?
So the story of George Bush Sr. flying in a SR71 to Paris was bunk?............
Yeah. Everyone knows it was GHWB that flew an SR-71 to Iran for this mission.
Not that I believe this Bravo Sierra but even if I did, I doubt it woulda had to have been much of a master plan. 😏
Yeah, right....
Took over 40 years for this to come to light, kind of like democrat-alleged “rape rape.”
I mean: it would be easy to understand if he didn’t keep his checkbook or the tickets or any given thing, but you go to foreign lands and don’t have ANYTHING to show for your trip? “Here’s a T-shirt from Iran. You can tell it’s from 1980 because it’s Hall and Oates.”
I was alive then - Jimmy Carter clearly brought himself down.
Yeah… THAT is what got Jimmy not elected… not his 4 years of lousy policy…
Carter needed no help. It wasn’t a plot. That incompetent, vindictive, petty boob was a victim of his own incompetency, vindictiveness, pettiness, and boob-ness.
He hasn’t even passed yet, and already they are figuring out how to release him from the bondage of his own shortcomings.
Typical Leftist way.
The “secret plan” had Iran releasing the hostages after the election. So why would Iran wait and release the hostages on Inauguration Day, months after the election? There wasn’t any deal, Iran knew what Reagan would do that Carter wouldn’t.
I was thinking it was malaise, a stagnant economy, a stagnant culture, inflation, stagflation, interest rates, and a thousand other things. No, it was a deal with Iran. And who can forget Carter’s amazing deft debate performances? Otherwise America would have rejected Reagan for Carter.
B.S.
Anyone who thinks that they could reliably work with the crazy Ayatolahs during that timeframe is an idiot. Anyone who is espousing that line is spreading propaganda.
Whay would Iran possibly ever prefer the hawkish Reagan being elected over a reliably and proven weak Carter’s re-election?
Doesn’t pass the smell test except as disinformation.
This has been alleged since the day Reagan took office. Face it, Jimmy Carter was a shitty President . . . Iran hostages or not
Last line of the article:
“Mr Barnes, a Democrat, was a fundraiser for John Kerry’s failed bid for president in 2004 and was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.”
Jimmy Carter brought down Jimmy Carter. Nobody but him sat there in that sweater and whined about malaise.
Reagan: 489 Electoral Votes. Carter: 49. If Carter were ‘soft’ on the terrorists, one would think they’d rather he stay in office, wouldn’t one? It was just a good old fashion shellacking, dealt in order to elect a strong, masculine leader to the most powerful position on the planet. It’d sure be nice to see this happen again...
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