Lawrence O’Donnell on Monday put President Donald Trump on blast for becoming a human thesaurus of sorts in his efforts to find new ways to describe his unpopular Iran war as anything but a “war.”

“No president has ever taken a war less seriously, and America does not approve,” said the MS NOW host, pointing to the poor polling numbers on the conflict.

O’Donnell underscored that Trump appeared to know his war “became fully illegal” last week when he tried to justify not seeking congressional approval for it despite the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which calls for congressional approval after a military conflict reaches the 60-day mark.

“You know, they don’t like the word war. And they call it a military operation because that way you don’t have a war, you don’t have legal problems,” said Trump in a West Palm Beach, Florida, speech on Friday, which marked 62 days since the Feb. 28 strikes on Iran.

O’Donnell proceeded to take issue with Trump’s “childish language” to describe the conflict before airing a clip of the president, who, in remarks from the White House on Monday, claimed that the U.S. was in a “mini war” with Iran.

The host underscored how the concept of an “illegal war” in American politics stemmed from the Vietnam era and detailed how the 1973 act was an effort to prevent another war like it.

“Congress learned its lesson with Vietnam, the war that Donald Trump refused to participate in when offered a chance by his local draft board, whereupon he presented a letter from a doctor saying that Donald Trump’s feet just couldn’t take a day in Army boots anywhere in the world,” he said.

Watch more from MS NOW’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” below.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.