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House Democrat slams ‘TACO’ jokes about Trump’s ceasefire with Iran

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by Ashleigh Fields - 04/08/26 9:12 AM ET

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by Ashleigh Fields - 04/08/26 9:12 AM ET

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Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) on Wednesday urged lawmakers not to make “TACO” jokes about President Trump suspending strikes on Iran for another two weeks, but to encourage the preservation of life.

“I do not appreciate anyone — Democrat or Republican — taking this moment to make jokes to say Trump ‘chickened out.’ The president was threatening genocide against 90 million Iranians,” Ansari wrote in a post on social platform X, referring to “Trump Always Chickens Out” memes.

“I’m grateful there’s a ceasefire & scores of innocent people didn’t die tonight,” she added.

Trump announced on Tuesday evening, less than two hours before the 8 p.m. EDT deadline, that Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire, which he called “a total and complete victory” for the U.S. The agreement includes Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier in the day, the president warned the Islamic Republic that a “whole civilization will die” if the regime did not agree to a deal. The rhetoric was criticized by many lawmakers who raised concerns around potential war crimes.

As of Wednesday morning, Trump told ABC News that he’s thinking of doing a “joint venture” with Iran to charge tolls for vessels passing through the critical shipping chokepoint, which is responsible for the transport of roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil.

“This is the Trump cycle. He creates a crisis. He then tries to tell the American people that he’s solved the crisis and then he reverses course, and that’s exactly what’s happened with the ceasefire and with the Strait of Hormuz and so many details of what is happening in Iran,” Ansari said Tuesday during an appearance on MS NOW’s “All In.”

Ansari, an Iranian American lawmaker, has urged the country’s leaders to focus on restoring freedoms to those oppressed under the standing regime. She has also criticized Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth for striking civilian infrastructure during the war.

“Donald Trump pretends like he cares about Iranian people. I mean, as you and I well know, he doesn’t care about American people, so of course he does not care about Iranian people. But Iran is a country that stems from the Persian Empire,” the Arizona Democrat told host Chris Hayes.

“It’s a civilization of thousands of years. I’ve been to Iran, and from Persepolis to the palaces from the monarchy to the bazaars, it is a beautiful country with beautiful people, very vibrant culture, generally very pro-West, very much want freedom from their regime and they want open lines of communication with the United States,” she continued. “They’ve been facing an Internet blackout from their government for months now.”

In previous statements, Ansari said the Iranian people need unrestricted access to the internet and for people across the world to advocate for the release of political prisoners.

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