U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with NewsNation last evening to discuss the importance of supporting Israel in their fight to end Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Watch the full interview HERE.
Daines On Unity Among Republicans Supporting Israel:
We had lunch with J.D. Vance today on Capitol Hill, the Vice President, our former colleague in the Senate, came and had lunch with us Republican senators. And I’ll just tell you, there’s widespread support for what’s going on right now in terms of supporting Israel. Well, he gave us an update. He’s spending a lot of time in the situation room because of what’s going on. But the message was, we stand firmly with Israel to make sure that they do all they need to do to prevent basically a nuclear war. Keep in mind, as you well know, this is a unique moment in history. I remember the first time I met with Bibi Netanyahu in Jerusalem 12 years ago. We were talking about the threat Iran posed from a nuclear viewpoint, but Israel always had to be a bit hesitant…because prior to the last year, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis would be attacking Israel if Israel ever preempted with an attack against Iran, and Israel then would be facing basically a four-front war. But with what’s happened since October 7th, that horrible terrorist attack by Hamas, a terror proxy of Iran, they’ve been able to basically neutralize Hamas. They’ve been able to neutralize Hezbollah, and the Houthis are on their heels right now. That gives a unique window now for Israel to take this preemptive attack and to destroy the nuclear capabilities. Let’s not forget, this is a regime that targeted President Trump’s assassination and that’s killed over 200 service members, U.S. service members.
Daines On the Threat Iran Poses to the West:
Iran presents an existential threat, not only to Israel, but also to the western world including the United States. This is a regime that talks about death to America. But also as we know it, they call Israel the little Satan and the United States the big Satan. This is a very different type of decision matrix for the president, and when you look at wartime, anytime you enter into a conflict like the Israelis have, there’s two very important parts of a military strategy to be successful. One is the element of surprise. There was definitely a surprise there. Number two is the use of overwhelming force. If you’re not using overwhelming force in a military engagement, it’s immoral to not. You should not be in the engagement. So you’re seeing Israel now with overwhelming amounts of force. They know they’ve got the United States standing side by side with Israel in this very important moment because once this regime topples, once they’ve destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities, this is a reset for the Middle East and a reset for the world. Look, and we have to give Benjamin Netanyahu his due. He destroyed Hamas, destroyed Hezbollah, neutralized the Houthis, and Assad and the Iranian influence in Syria by defying President Biden at every turn and defying sort of the world in the think tank group in doing what he wanted. But that’s Netanyahu’s legacy.
Daines On President Trump’s Strong Leadership:
I think you’re gonna see in President Trump’s tenure a lot of legacies left behind, because just like Ronald Reagan did, when you start off with peace through strength, the world now respects the United States. Under Joe Biden, nobody feared Joe Biden. This was a very weak commander in chief. A strong commander in chief literally will redefine the world order. That’s exactly what’s happening, and a strong America fills a vacuum that was actually left by Joe Biden. When you look at the Russians and the Chinese, as they see what President Trump is doing, they’re on notice. And so this will be one, I think, of many legacies that President Trump will leave behind. But you think about it for a moment. One of the greatest gifts we can give our children and our grandchildren would be to stop or destroy the nuclear capabilities of Iran.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Gabby Wiggins