The assassination of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani by a United States drone strike has stoked fears that it could set in motion a massive regional war or even World War III. While it’s too early to tell what the fallout will be, Rose McGowan made her fear of a war with Iran clear when she took to Twitter just hours after the news broke.
“Dear #Iran, The USA has disrespected your country, your flag, your people. 52% of us humbly apologize,” she wrote late Thursday night. “We want peace with your nation. We are being held hostage by a terrorist regime. We do not know how to escape. Please do not kill us. #Soleimani”
The actress followed that tweet with another that tagged President Donald Trump directly and referred to him as a “dickhead.”
While some may have shared her fears, the majority of the responses to her post have been highly critical and “Move To Iran” began trending in response to her apology. The Charmed actress refused to back down, even quote-tweeting a comment to her by Federalist writer Mickey White that told her to “eat sh*t.”
She did clarify her meaning, however, acknowledging that she felt Soleimani was “an evil evil man who did evil evil things” but that the United States was also “morally corrupt and acts illegally.” She added that her apology was an attempt to take one for the team and prevent WWIII from happening.
McGowan’s clarifying tweet didn’t exactly smooth things over with those who didn’t approve of her apology. Some people felt particularly bothered that the actress believed her apology would be enough for Iran to forgive Soleimani’s assassination. Still, she continued to fire back, using the hashtag #TeamStayAlive in her replies while explaining that she is anti-war and doesn’t support the actions of either county.
Given that many of those responding to her tweet were supporters of Trump or Republicans and that Hollywood is generally liberal-leaning, McGowan would write somewhat conflicting statements about her party affiliation. She claimed she had equal disdain for both Trump and the Clinton family and that she was registered as a Republican in California. But she went on to say she had equal hesitations about both parties.
“I will not vote Republican, but I cannot vote Democrat.”
She continued, writing that she is a registered Republican because she knows what evil she would get from that party. In a follow-up tweet, she changed her mind however, saying she wants Democrats to win the election because “we are less likely to die” and will never vote Republican. Throughout her exchanges, she wrote that her political affiliation was irrelevant and her concerns were about the United States being on the brink of a major war.
After reflecting overnight, on Friday morning McGowan gave a more tempered response to the situation.
“Ok, so I freaked out because we may have any impending war. Sometimes it’s okay to freak out on those in power. It’s our right. That is what so many Brave soldiers have fought for. That is democracy. I do not want any more American soldiers killed. That’s it.”