CNN journalist Manu Raju, the network’s chief congressional correspondent, caught attention during an exchange with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a press conference in Washington, DC. Questioning of Raju, an Indian-American, focused on Rubio’s explanation for why the United States joined military action against Iran, and the conversation spread rapidly on social media.At a press event this week, Rubio said the United States launched strikes against Iran because American leaders believed Israel was planning its own attack on Iran and that Tehran would then retaliate against American forces. Hence, the United States acted first as a precaution to prevent the death toll from rising.Rubio said that based on that information, the United States decided to act first to protect American forces.During the press conference, Manu Raju repeated part of Rubio’s earlier statement and asked whether the planned Israeli strike was the reason the US acted when it did.
“There’s nothing to clarify,” Rubio responded, at one point telling Raju: “This is my press conference.”
This exchange emerged because many conservative commentators and lawmakers saw Rubio’s previous comments as indicating that US actions were linked to Israel’s plans. This raised questions about why the United States attacked Iran and whether other allies influenced the timing of military action.Rubio later tried to clarify his previous comments, saying that Washington was aware of the Israeli plans, but the decision to strike Iran was made by the US president himself and would have happened regardless.
President Donald Trump also denied that Israel dictated US actions, saying the US made its decision based on its assessment of the threat posed by Iran.Manu Raju is a well-known long-time American political journalist. He joined CNN in 2015 after working at Politico and other national media outlets. Raju covers US Congress and national politics, and also hosts CNN’s Sunday political news show Inside Politics with Manu Raju.Raju gained attention earlier in his career for covering major elections and legislative battles, and has been honored with journalism awards for his reporting. He was born in Illinois to parents who immigrated from Karnataka, India, in the 1970s. His father worked as a doctor, and his family background includes an Indian grandfather who was a Kannada poet. Raju grew up in the United States and built his journalism career there.
