Donald Trump's spokeswoman leveled false accusations against President Barack Obama on Saturday, saying he started the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
When asked on CNN about Trump saying Obama was the "founder" of Islamic State, spokeswoman Katrina Pierson delivered a lengthy response in which she proclaimed it was Obama who "went into Afghanistan," where U.S. troops had begun fighting in 2001 under former President George W. Bush.
"Remember, we weren't even in Afghanistan by this time," she said of Obama taking office in 2009. "Barack Obama went into Afghanistan creating another problem."
The visibly surprised CNN anchor pressed Pierson to confirm that she was saying that Obama took the country into Afghanistan.
"What I'm saying is the policies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton _ that was Obama's war, yes," Pierson said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pierson cited audio problems.
Pierson, who ran unsuccessfully in a 2014 primary against Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, is a regular face on cable news, staunchly defending her boss.
But she's also been the subject of controversy.
When Trump recently battled publicly with Khizr Khan, whose son was killed by a car bomb in 2004 while serving in Iraq, Pierson blamed Obama for the death of the fallen soldier. Humayun Khan was killed five years before Obama took office.
"It was under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that changed the rules of engagement that probably cost (Capt. Khan's) life," she said on CNN this month.
The nonpartisan PolitiFact ranked her claim "pants on fire" _ its harshest critique in terms of false statements.
