Former Michigan GOP Rep. Peter Meijer disputed California Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna’s comment that President Obama was “more effective” at dealing with Iran, during a panel on CNN on Thursday evening. “What’s gnawing at Trump is that Barack Obama was far more effective,” Khanna said. “I mean, the Iranians killed an order of magnitude more Americans under President Obama than they have under President Trump,” Mijer said. An American died this week in Iraq as a result of Iranian bombardment of U.S. bases. “That’s just not true,” Khanna replied. “Obama didn’t go to Dover Air Force Base and have to look at dead Americans coming in.” “I mean, he should have because they were my colleagues coming back from Iraq,” Meijer said. “I was in Iraq and the EFPs that the Iranians were supplying to the Jaish al-Mahdi, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, all of the Iranian-backed militias… receiving their funding and receiving their weapons from Iran.”

REP. RO KHANNA: The problem is we’re losing our leverage. And what’s gnawing at Trump is that Barack Obama was far more effective, that Barack Obama actually got China and the E.U. and got a multilateral agreement that got 97 percent of enriched uranium out. And it turns out being statesmanlike and being smart and strategic is better than bluster for America’s national interest. And now the president has made a mess of things, made a mess of the economy, but his ego will not permit him to go to Xi Jinping and the European leaders and have a multilateral solution to get us out of this mess and to help the American people. PETER MEIJER: I mean, the Iranians killed an order of magnitude more Americans under President Obama than they have under President Trump. KHANNA: That’s just not true. That’s not actually true. MEIJER: That is absolutely true. I was in Iraq and the EFPs that the Iranians were supplying to the Jaish al-Mahdi, Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, all of the Iranian-backed militias. KHANNA: Obama didn’t go to Dover Air Force Base and have to look at dead Americans coming in. Obama didn’t preside over the Strait of Hormuz getting controlled. MEIJER: I mean, he should have because they were my colleagues coming back from Iraq. KHANNA: From Iraq, but not from the direct strike — MEIJER: Who were killed by Iranian-backed groups. KHANNA: — by proxy groups. But those were being killed — MEIJER: Yes, who were receiving their funding and receiving their weapons from Iran. KHANNA: Those were being killed under the first Trump term as well, and you know that as well as I do. Trump has created a disaster. MEIJER: And killed under Biden too. KHANNA: And what he has done is he engaged in the very regime change wars that he ran against, and he believes that he can attack the world — MEIJER: There’s no regime change, right? I think that is the crux of the Democratic criticism. We haven’t changed the regime. It’s not a regime change war. KHANNA: But he tried, and he failed.