Ex-GOP lawmaker flags Trump's 'greatest self own' as US falls behind Iran in 'meme' war

A former Republican congressman ridiculed President Donald Trump's attempt to keep up with Iran's propaganda campaign.

Iran has concocted a series of Lego-themed propaganda videos mocking the 79-year-old U.S. president, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and their military campaign, and former GOP congressman Adam Kinzinger told "CNN This Morning" that the Trump administration was falling behind in that aspect of war.

"Here's the thing is the administration has to be spending the effort to convince the American people to fight their own information war," Kinzinger said. "This is the craziest thing, and the thing to understand about their their strategy here. So in politics or in foreign policy, it's called the 'dime' model – diplomatic, informational, military and economic. On the military side, we're doing good. You know, the military is operating, it's doing what it needs to do. But information is key there, and so Iran is putting out the memes, and in fact, Trump did a thing yesterday which was so stupid."

Host Audie Cornish seemed to agree with Kinzinger's assessment of a meme Trump posted over the weekend showing him holding six Uno "Wild" cards and boasting that he holds "all the cards."

"The cards are from of Uno, which for people who have ever played Uno knows the goal is to have fewer cards," Cornish said. "I've been joking edgelord diplomacy, meaning you have a White House through ICE, all kinds of State Department feeds that are constantly trolling and making jokes, and now we're somehow in a war in which the other side is doing the same."

Kinzinger agreed, but he said Iran's propaganda strategy was much more effective.

"Pete Hegseth said, you know, that the chief enemy in this is the Democrats and some Republicans, and you see that in the information strategy of the White House," Kinzinger said. "Iran attacks us, you know, informationally, if you will, and the White House, instead of fighting back and doing their own Lego meme or something – I mean, that's a self-own."

Anyone who's played a game of Uno would understand why the president's meme made no sense, he said.

"Iran puts out a 'draw four' today," Kinzinger said. "I could have been a five-year-old going, you probably should do a 'draw four,' Donald Trump, because a regular wild is beat by a 'draw four.' It's like the greatest self-own."

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