Obama official who backed Iran deal sparks online outrage with reaction to Trump's strike: 'Sit this one out'

Ben Rhodes, a leading figure within the Obama administration who pushed for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, was blasted on social media Saturday after he criticized U.S. military strikes on Iran. 

In the immediate aftermath of the joint attack by the U.S. and Israel, Rhodes was posting criticism of the administration on social media saying that Trump and Netanyahu "seem to be totally unconcerned about the human beings - on all sides - who will suffer."

"Trump's second term has been the worst case scenario," Rhodes said in another X post. 

Rhodes was quickly ridiculed by many conservatives on social media who pointed to the Obama-era Iran deal as a catalyst for allowing the situation to escalate to this point and placing blame on the Obama administration for not taking the threat from Iran seriously.

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"Yes we were much better off with a president who drew redlines and failed to enforce them," American Enterprise Institute fellow and Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen posted on X. "Team Obama might want to sit this one out."

"Oh look the guy who literally created this mess in the first place has chimed in," Republican digital operative Alec Sears posted on X. 

"You were part of the team who gave billions of dollars to the Iranian Regime - you helped fund this terror on human beings," former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell posted on X. "Once again, President Trump is cleaning up your mess."

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"You had eight years to do something on this issue," Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. "Instead, you became a foreign operative doing everything you could to preserve an Islamist regime."

"You put these circumstances in place."

"The Obama crew weeps for the mullahs," former Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh posted on X. 

"Ben Rhodes bears responsibility for how America got to this point," Middle East geopolitical analyst and Red Ax Strategies President Matthew Brodsky posted on X. "He is a spineless agent of influence for the regime in Iran. It's taken years to undo the damage of his foreign policy."

On Saturday afternoon, it was reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades, was killed in the strike against Iran.

Israeli leaders confirmed Khamenei's compound and offices were reduced to rubble early Saturday after a targeted strike in downtown Tehran.

"Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital's Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.

College basketball star suspended by team for spitting toward opposing fan

Stony Brook men’s basketball star Erik Pratt was suspended by the school for spitting on a fan during the team’s 82-69 loss to Monmouth Thursday.

Pratt was being heckled by fans with 2:30 left in the game with Stony Brook down 79-63. Instead of ignoring the fans, Pratt turned and spit at them and walked away.

"In light of his actions in last night's game at Monmouth, I have made the decision in consultation with the CAA to suspend Erik Pratt for Saturday's game at Hofstra," Stony Brook Director of Athletics Shawn Helibron said in a statement.

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"I met with Erik earlier, and he acknowledged his mistake while accepting full responsibility for his actions. While emotions were high in the moment, he understands that his behavior was inappropriate and did not meet the standards we expect of our student-athletes, nor those set forth by our department, institution and the CAA. Erik has expressed his commitment to learning from this experience and moving forward in a positive manner."

At the time of his ejection, Pratt led the team with 14 points and had eight assists. Pratt is Stony Brook’s leading scorer, averaging 19.4 points per game, and his absence for the team’s game against Hofstra on Saturday is a big one.

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Stony Brook is currently tied for the No. 5 seed in the CAA tournament, and a loss to Hofstra could drop them in the seedings.

Pratt previously played at Milwaukee and Texas A&M before joining Stony Brook. 

Pratt is not the only athlete to be embroiled in a spitting controversy over the last year, as Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Carter spit on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the first game of the NFL season.

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