Rick Santorum Attacks Obama On Israel And Iran, Possibly Misquotes The Wire

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TPM Reporter Eric Kleefield catches former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum attacking Obama over insufficient support for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Santorum chose a rather interesting way to express his thoughts on the risks of Israel bombing Iran:

“If you attack the king you had better kill the king otherwise you will be in big trouble,” he said, acknowledging a military attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities would be difficult to accomplish.

Santorum appears to be mangling a memorable quote from Omar, a popular character in HBO’s hit series about the war on drugs, The Wire. Check out the clip below, and read our interview with Michael K. Williams, the actor who played Omar (and now portrays Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire).

The actual quote is, “you come at the king, you’d best not miss.”

UPDATE: Santorum also could have been mangling an  equally concise quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “When you strike at a king you must kill him.”

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