US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apologized for saying there have been no American deaths in the ongoing war with Iran, after a statement he made during an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. In the interview, Lutnick claimed that "there haven't been American deaths", implying that the US strategy of attempting to economically strangle Iran was successful. However, it has been reported that 18 Americans have been killed in the conflict so far. Lutnick later posted on X, saying he had misspoken and offering his condolences to the families of the dead servicemembers. He claimed that he was thinking about a Venezuelan military operation where no US service members died when he made the mistake. The apology came after President Donald Trump defended Lutnick on social media, saying that Lutnick's statement was due to having Venezuela on his mind.
In an interview with CNBC, Lutnick touted the administration's strategy of attempting an "economic choke out" of Iran and said that "there haven't been American deaths."
| Signal | Value | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Correction rate | 0.000 | 0.4 |
| Uncertainty density | 0.118 | 0.25 |
| Assertive mismatch rate | 0.000 | 0.35 |