Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr shouts to his team in the first half during an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Folks on the left had a meltdown over a tweet from Vice President Mike Pence saying that the 9/11 hijackers had a connection to Iran. Pence tweeted that Soleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.”

Among the people who flipped out was Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

Kerr is an avowed critic of the administration and has attacked President Donald Trump many times.

You may recall when he caught flak over the China-NBA controversy for a weaselly statement that was viewed as kowtowing to China when asked for his comment about an NFL general manager expressing support for Hong Kong protesters.

From Fox News:

“A lot of us don’t know what to make of it, it’s something I’m reading about… but I’m not going to comment,” he said in October. “What I’ve found is that it’s easy to speak on issues that I’m passionate about and that I feel like I’m well-versed on, and I’ve found that it makes the most sense to stick to topics that fall in that category.”

On Saturday, he attacked Pence, accusing him of lying about Iran and Soleimani’s connection to the 9/11 attackers.

One thing I've learned in my lifetime is to not believe our government when it comes to matters of war. Johnson and Nixon lied about Viet Nam. Bush and Cheney lied about WMD's in Iraq. Now Pence is lying about Iran/Soleimani's supposed involvement in 9/11. https://t.co/jm3oex867A

— Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) January 3, 2020

In an email to Fox News, Pence spokeswoman Katie Waldman claimed that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), under Soleimani’s leadership, knowingly allowed 12 of the 9/11 hijackers to transit to Afghanistan.

Waldman also pointed to a government claim that Iran allowed 9/11 hijackers to travel through its territory.

The State Department noted: “In 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department identified and sanctioned three senior AQ [Al Qaeda] operatives residing in Iran and noted that Iran had knowingly permitted these AQ members, including several of the 9/11 hijackers, to transit its territory on their way to Afghanistan for training and operational planning.”

For those asking: 12 of the 19 transited through Afghanistan. 10 of those 12 were assisted by Soleimani. https://t.co/KSUI2kXmfX

— Devin O’Malley (@VPPressSec) January 3, 2020

As National Review notes, the 9/11 Commission report did find a connection. Finding that they had a connection doesn’t negate the Saudi involvement.

“In sum, there is strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers,” the report says. (Emphasis added.)

The commission could unearth no evidence proving that the Iranians knew what the 9/11 team was planning (which doesn’t mean they did not). In a report teeming with wrongdoing, this is the one assertion that Iran apologists love to highlight. But we know that before 9/11, Iran had ties to al-Qaeda terrorists, offered them safe passage, and helped train them. Perhaps the Iranians never imagined the extremists they were aiding would be as successful as they were on 9/11, but that doesn’t mean they don’t bear any responsibility.

A federal court also found them liable for providing material support to the 9/11 hijackers.

From ABC:

A federal judge in New York on Tuesday ordered Iran to pay billions of dollars to parents, spouses, siblings and children of more than 1,000 9/11 victims, court documents obtained by ABC News show.

The default judgment issued by Judge George B. Daniels finds the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran are liable for the deaths of 1,008 people whose families sued.

Which is another reason that it was infuriating that Barack Obama turned over billions to the Iranians. While some on the left justify that by saying it was owed to Iran, it was owed to the government that the mullahs tossed out and we had billions in victims’ claims against Iran. But that didn’t stop him and the victims of the various terrorist actions Iran has been involved in are still waiting.

Yet many of the left still don’t seem to know this and accused Pence of mentioning this to further justify “war.” They’re more concerned about what Pence is saying and hating the Trump administration than they are about the attack on our embassy or Americans in Iraq.

People hadn’t forgotten about Kerr’s refusal to condemn China or take a position.

https://twitter.com/BecketAdams/status/1213506913222180868

@SteveKerr did you clear your tweet first with the Chinese? just looking out for you, buddy.

— 𝚒’𝚖 𝚊 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚜𝚊𝚛 (@BecketAdams) January 4, 2020

how’s your research on Chinese authoritarianism going? any update to your comments?

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 4, 2020

The 9/11 Commission Report on Iranian facilitation of the hijackers from Saudi Arabia into Afghanistan – this isn't something Pence just pulled out of thin air today. pic.twitter.com/U7DllF5cnr

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) January 4, 2020