White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt drew fierce criticism Tuesday over comments that critics said once again reduced Donald Trump’s justification for attacking Iran to what they described as little more than a feeling.

Leavitt was asked during a press briefing where Trump had gotten the information behind his claim that Iran was about to strike U.S. targets within three days had he not launched the attack, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

“That’s not the first time the president has said that he chose to launch Operation Epic Fury because he felt as though Iran was going to strike the United States and our assets in the region first,” Leavitt replied.

She then added:

“This was a feeling the president had based on facts.”

Reporter: The president said he had to strike Iran because he believes that Iran was going to strike US targets within seven days and then he then bumped that down later to three days. Where is he getting that?Leavitt: This was a feeling the president had based on facts.. facts… pic.twitter.com/NNRlgdOUcg

They were “facts provided to him by his top negotiators who had been engaged with the Iranian regime in a good faith effort,” she continued, accusing the Iranian regime of “lying, deceiving the United States of America” and “clearly trying to continue their nuclear program to create a bomb that would of course threaten the United States of America.”

Leavitt also claimed Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal could soon have grown to the point where no U.S. president would have been able to challenge it.

She later insisted that Trump is “not making anything up” when it came to his three-day claim and said Iran itself had chosen “this path to death and destruction.”

Critics quickly seized on her remarks, arguing they amounted to an admission that Trump had launched the war based on feelings.

Imagine if Jen Psaki had said nonsense like this on behalf of Biden or Robert Gibbs had said this on behalf of Obama? Insane the kinda crap they get away with saying to the media.He had a "feeling" about launching an unprovoked and illegal war of aggression. https://t.co/oBKicdbdrj

“What were these facts?”“Well you wouldn’t know them, they go to a different high school…in Canada…”

Imagine starting a war based on feelings? And they said Kamala was too emotional.

Facts they have yet to provide.

“A feeling” — this is insanity https://t.co/F7FkIp5TtA

Great. A war built on feeling.

The “facts over feelings” crowd are rapidly changing their online bios to “feeling based on facts.” https://t.co/kUrYrpJvFW

Old and Busted: Framework of a plan. New Hotness: Feeling based on facts.

World has literally been set on fire, children murdered, civilians murdered, thousands displaced and all on the basis of ‘feelings’. I’ve never heard of anything more moronic. https://t.co/ooopr2p9AA

And now here we are based on a feeling

Trump is bombing Iran based on his feelings https://t.co/nswwA9G7tJ

Trump started the war on vibes https://t.co/fVZ12bcBEB

feelings based on facts feels like some new legalese explanation

A feeling. A fantasy. Numbers his advisors feed him. Without any basis in truth. Just a narrative.

Feelings aren’t facts.

"Facts you wouldn't even know because they're so important only presidents can see them..."

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