Ben Rhodes

Either way, it's just it's so demoralizing to see that nobody really has an idea of what's happening, who's in charge.

And so another thing that I want to bring up, though, is the notion of regime change.

It used to be focused on bringing some kind of democracy right to the Iranian people.

Right.

First of all, Moshtaba Khamenei, the former Ayatollah's son, who's now been put in charge, she hasn't been seen or heard from.

The Russian ambassador to Iran did say that rumors that he was being treated in Russia are untrue and that he's in Iran, but obviously avoiding public appearances.

But I don't know if you've noticed, Ben, suddenly the line from the administration is that regime change has already happened.

It's happened miraculously.

Yeah, we have a clip of that.

Let's take a listen.

There's a little Marcos not in the loop, apparently.

But are we on regime number three?

You know, I was under the impression that regime is a system.

It's not just about what individual might be at the top that you're talking to.

Right.

It was a gift, a present.

It's interesting, you know, you bring all that up, but you can't.

win a war or run a war based on lies.

You know, I have a lot of people who I know who are supporters of Trump or who maybe think that this war is happening for the right reasons because they're afraid of Iran getting a nuclear weapon, right?

And I'm always just trying to think of like, how do I have a reasonable conversation where I'm really trying to put myself into their shoes, see their perspective, you know, come back with what I think are like rational arguments to express my own.