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15 years later, however, many of the same Democrats who enthusiastically embraced Obama’s Libya operations have suddenly changed their tune when it comes to President Donald Trump’s strikes against Iran.

Last Tuesday, when a reporter asked current House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) why the Democrats insist that President Trump does need congressional approval to order “Epic Fury,” he answered, “Well, obviously Libya and the circumstances connected to that were very different than the circumstances that we face in Iran right now.”

Jeffries couldn’t explain what exactly those supposed “differences” were, but his rambling response essentially boiled down to “orange man bad.”

This was also the theme of Democrat remarks during Wednesday’s Senate debate over a War Powers Resolution meant to constrain the President’s authority to attack Iran. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) summed up Democrats’ argument with this question: “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Schumer was in the Senate when Obama launched the regime change war on Libya. Yet he never questioned the legitimacy of that act of unprovoked aggression – despite the fact that there was far less justification than currently exists for Trump’s strikes on Iran.

Likewise, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) was in Congress during Obama’s war on Libya, and he was just as acquiescent as Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Schumer. He has been singing a far different tune about President Trump’s military operations against the Iranian regime. Upon learning about it he brayed:

“Trump is lying to the American people as he launches an illegal, regime-change war against Iran. This is endangering American lives & has already resulted in mass civilian casualties. This is not making us safer & only damages the US & our interests. The Senate must immediately vote on the War Powers Resolution to stop it.”

But undoubtedly the most glaring instance of Democrat hypocrisy came from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who also supported Obama’s Libya strikes when he was in the House in 2011. During an appearance on Bill Maher’s “Real Time” show on Friday, Maher read Schiff the following statement from “the administration”:

“The president had the constitutional authority to direct the use of military force because he could reasonably determine that such use of force was in the national interest.”

“That’s too vague for you?” Maher asked, to which Schiff responded, with a clear tone of disgust, “totally vague.” But as Maher then revealed in a humiliating moment for Schiff, that statement came from the Obama administration to justify its strikes in Libya, not from the Trump administration.

This kind of nonsense was on display by every Democrat in the Senate, except for Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who correctly diagnosed the problem with his party during a Fox News interview with Jesse Watters. “It’s better that the Ayatollah’s been killed. But Democrats are afraid to just agree with Trump on anything,” Fetterman said. “I’m always going to pick my country over my party and I’m always going to acknowledge when a good thing has happened.”

Fetterman, in other words, believes that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) has metastasized to such an extent in his party that its members would rather defend a terrorist regime responsible for killing Americans, its own citizens, and sponsoring terrorism throughout the Middle East than simply admit that President Trump is right about anything. He was the only Democrat senator who voted against the Senate’s War Powers Resolution, which failed 47-53.

A similar War Powers Resolution failed in the House on Thursday and, even worse, 53 House Democrats also voted against a resolution reaffirming that Iran remains the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to that vote as follows: “Just 3 years ago, a resolution condemning the terrorist Iranian regime passed the House by a vote of 420-1… Trump Derangement Syndrome is melting their brains.”

TDS is, by the way, a very real psychological condition according to psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert. As he wrote in the Wall Street Journal last November, “No serious mental-health professional would render such a partisan and derogatory diagnosis. Yet I’ve seen it in my own psychotherapy practice.” He describes patients who spontaneously mention Donald Trump in therapy sessions not to discuss policy but to process obsession, rage, and dread:

“Clinically, the presentation aligns with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders: persistent intrusive thoughts, emotional dysregulation and impaired functioning. Patients describe sleepless nights, compulsive news checking and physical agitation. Many confess they can’t stop thinking about Donald Trump even when they try.”

Politically, TDS obviously manifests itself as opposition to every policy pursued by the President, even if it means reversing previously held positions. For example, in the midst of the 2024 presidential race, Kamala Harris told “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker that Iran was our greatest adversary: “Iran has American blood on their hands. This attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles.” Yet last week she denounced Trump for his attack on Iran.

TDS also causes amnesia about belligerent statements made by prominent Democrats on Iran. During her 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was asked what her administration would do if Iran attacked Israel. Her response was startling: “I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran.” Nor was she, as has been claimed by the legacy media, merely speaking about Iran’s deployment of a nuclear weapon against Israel.

President Trump is absolutely correct when he writes, “The Radical Left Democrats, a Party that has completely lost its way, are complaining bitterly about the very necessary and important attack, by the United States and Israel, on Iran. What most people understand is that they are only complaining BECAUSE I DID IT.”

If Barack Obama or any other Democrat president had ordered the attack on Iran, the Democrats would now be singing his praises. The American people should remember that – and Democrats’ long history of supporting far less justifiable military operations under liberal leadership – the next time they see progressive politicians shouting about “illegal wars.”

David Catron is a Senior Editor at the American Spectator. His writing has also appeared in PJ Media, the American Thinker, the Providence Journal, the Catholic Exchange and a variety of other publications.