Fox’s Bill Melugin Confronts Hakeem Jeffries with Pelosi’s 2011 Claim Obama Didn’t Need Congress Authorization to Bomb Libya — But Now They Want to Stop Trump

The radical left is at it again with their “rules for thee, but not for me” playbook.

On Tuesday, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin absolutely cornered House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, exposing the staggering double standard Democrats hold when it comes to executive military action.

While the Democrats are currently screaming “unconstitutional” over President Trump’s decisive actions against the Iranian regime, they seem to have developed a convenient case of amnesia regarding 2011.

During the 2011 military intervention in Libya, Nancy Pelosi, then the House Minority Leader, publicly defended Barack Obama’s authority to conduct airstrikes without a formal vote from Congress.

In June 2011, Pelosi stated she was “satisfied that the president has the authority he needs” to continue military operations in Libya. She argued that because the engagement was of a “limited nature” and did not involve “boots on the ground,” it did not violate the Constitution or the War Powers Resolution.

The U.S.-led initial phase quickly transitioned to a NATO-led mission that lasted approximately 7 months from March to October 2011.

WATCH:

In 2011, Nancy Pelosi stood next to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and defended President Barack Obama’s decision to launch airstrikes in Libya without a congressional vote.

She said Obama, as Commander in Chief, had the authority to act. She described it as limited military… pic.twitter.com/4ySevZ3HCS

— Jammles (@jammles9) March 2, 2026

During a press gaggle, Melugin pressed Jeffries on comments made by Nancy Pelosi in 2011 defending Barack Obama’s decision to launch military strikes against Libya without first seeking congressional approval.

Jeffries, clearly caught off guard, stumbled through a word-salad response, trying to claim the situations were “very different” before eventually retreating to the classic “I wasn’t there” excuse.

Bill Melugin:
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?

Hakeem Jeffries:
Well, obviously Libya and the circumstances connected to that were very different than the circumstances that we face in Iran right now. I don’t even understand the genesis or basis of that question. I’m not suggesting that you’re not asking it in good faith.

Bill Melugin:
Libya went on for seven months.

Hakeem Jeffries:
As I’ve indicated, first of all, I was not in Congress at the time. 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.

The administration is not even pretending that they have intelligence or information at this point publicly. 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.

By the way, Donald Trump is the one who said, in the aftermath of the 12-day war, that Iran’s nuclear program had been completely and totally obliterated. Not my words—his words. Was he lying to the American people then, or is he lying now?…

WATCH:

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