OPINION | Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those held by Sarah Palin.
People cannot get enough of a testy exchange over social media between CNN’s Jake Tapper and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The two exchange tweets which concluded with people applauding Tapper for standing up to one of the world’s most notorious leaders.
It should be noted that the Iranian government has banned its citizens from using Twitter and only allows government officials to use the platform. Unlike most world leaders who use the social media platform to communicate with their own citizenry, the country’s former president uses his social media account to tweet about American politics and push propaganda points to the international community.
The exchange with Tapper began when the former Iranian president tweeted out support for the Boston Red Sox for winning the World Series earlier this month.
“Congratulations to the @RedSox and the city of #Boston on winning #worldseries2018,” Ahmadinejad said.
To which Tapper responded: “Hello, Mahmoud. Remember when your Iranian Revolution Guard murdered Neda Agha-Soltan for peacefully protesting?”
Here’s more on Neda Soltan, via a 2009 Fox News report:
Protesters in Iran are hailing 26-year-old Neda Soltan as a martyr after graphic videos of her apparent murder at a protest in Tehran hit the Internet. Iran experts say images of her bloody death have galvanized the country and that mourning for her — which has been banned by authorities — will bring deeper unrest.
Reports of how she was killed vary — from a rooftop sniper’s bullet to a passing shot by two Basij militiamen on a motorcycle — but the effect has been nearly universal.
In the space of just hours, the philosophy student became the image of Iran’s democratic protests, nicknamed the “Angel of Freedom.” But it is Neda’s real name, which means “voice” or “calling” in Farsi, that is resonating in slogans throughout Iran’s capital and beyond.
Her fiance said in an interview with BBC Persian that she had not supported any candidate in the allegedly fraudulent elections. Neda wanted “freedom for all,” he said.
The former Iranian official shrugged Tapper’s comment as nothing more than here-say or conspiratorial. He responded, “Jake, first of all this has nothing to do with this current post. You are making a big claim which has never been remotely proven.”
And, “Im sure you know that I have condemned Neda’s murder many times. Her death was extremely suspicious. Again I’m sure you know she wasn’t near the protest the day she was killed.”
Tapper had just about enough of Ahmadinejad and dropped the proverbial hammer: “I’m not going to engage with you if you’re going to continue to try to disgrace Neda’s name by engaging in deranged conspiracy theories, @Ahmadinejad1956. She was killed by the Basij; the world knows this and saw it happen.”
And:
Ouch.
Ahmadinejad did not respond, but some other people did. Most of them praised Tapper for the takedown and shared GIFs or pictures to support him.
“Like I needed any other reasons to love @jaketapper,” one user said.
“Jake is a national treasure,” another user said.
