CNBC’s Jim Cramer has apologized on air for his social media posts suggesting that the U.S. should destroy Iran’s infrastructure to end the war like it did in Vietnam.
The Mad Money host was widely condemned for invoking Vietnam, a war the U.S. lost, to suggest how operations in the Middle East should play out.
“They are taunting us with $200 oil. They do not have the cards; our military must be unleashed. Time to do what we did to Hanoi...to get them to the table,” Cramer posted Thursday.
The Vietnam War, which concluded in an American defeat with the fall of Saigon in 1975, after nearly two decades of fighting, resulted in an estimated 2 million civilian casualties. The conflict destroyed northern Vietnam’s major cities and infrastructure, which took decades to rebuild, and triggered widespread famine as well as health issues stemming from the use of Agent Orange.
On Friday, Cramer said he was sorry and insisted he was not advocating for the “destruction” of Iran or harm to the Iranian people.
“I want this conflict solved diplomatically,” Cramer told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. “But I’m a stock guy, and I apologize to anybody who thought I’d supported the destruction of the Iranian people. That’s got to be avoided. It’s just got to be avoided.
“I don’t want to sugarcoat it. I did not say it the way I should have, and you have to own that when you get something wrong,” he added. “I opined in an area that I’m not as good at because that’s not what I do.”
Cramer had already attempted damage control and apologized for his original remarks in follow-up posts on X on Thursday.
One of his posts referenced former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who was blamed for helping escalate the conflict in Vietnam for years before later playing a key role in negotiating its end.
“It is vital that this war end, and if possible, on our terms, if we can get them,” Cramer wrote. “I am saying that Kissinger had a solution, but it was a horrible solution. We want something that is not horrendous. But we need an off ramp.”
“Understand i do not want a North Vietnam situation. That will be terrible. Things would be getting totally out of hand. What matters is safety of our warfighters and a resolution,” Cramer added.
“And i am very sorry if i offended. That’s wrong to do. I simply wanted to remind people what could happen. NOT WHAT I WANT TO HAPPEN. I protested then to that solution. it was horrendous. I apologize if anyone thought i favored that solution.”
