Senator Marshall: Democrats Refuse to Secure Our Elections
Senator Marshall Joins CNN to Discuss Iran Conflict and SAVE America Act
Washington – On Tuesday night, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins to discuss the U.S. progress in Iran, reiterating President Trump’s goal of destroying missile capabilities. He also questioned democrats’ refusal to support election integrity – despite 70% of their voters’ support – urging 10 of his colleagues to support this common-sense measure.
Click HERE or on the image above to watch Senator Marshall’s full interview.
On Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz:
“Kaitlan, that’s news to me, but maybe this is what our allies are for, certainly there. This is not the first time mines have been in that area. So maybe one of our allies can help us out here. If not, we’ll get some mine sweepers back there.”
On President Trump’s goals in the Iranian conflict:
“I don’t think we’re quite there again. The President laid out very clear goals that he wanted to destroy their missile capability, their nukes, their navies, and prevent them from being able to arm terrorists in the future. So maybe we destroyed 80 or 90% of their missiles, those types of things. So, I think we have some more work to do, but I think it’s going on incredibly well that maybe they staggered this out as a four-to-six-week plan, and maybe we’ll be able to get out of there in two or three weeks. Time will tell. But again, just hats off to our military, and thank you so much for all those people keeping us safe. That is the absolute, the mission that the President had declared. And I have every reason to believe that we’re going to be able to get there.”
On the duration of the conflict:
“Look, I never want to take anything off the table, Kaitlan, but I hate war. I do. I served. My dad served. My brother served. My son is serving. President Eisenhower once said that I hate war is only of a soldier who has lived at Cannes with all its brutality, futility, and stupidity. So, I hate war. Now, I think the benefits outweigh the risks. I support the president. I support the troops. Hopefully, we can rid Iran of all its problems that we’ve had with them for 47 years. But I do not think that this president wants boots on the ground. I think there’s nothing to make me think that he likes war any more than I do.”
“I hate to take anything off the table. Everything I hear out of the White House is that they don’t want boots on the ground. I hope that there’s not. I hope that this war is over sooner than later.”
On the state of Iran’s nuclear program:
“Look, I was wrong. They were restarting their nuclear program. That’s the reports out of the White House that they were starting their nuclear program. But I think it goes way beyond this, and you’re right. There is a cost of war, and I mourn the loss of those seven soldiers with all my heart and pray for those families and the 140 that are injured. Eight of them are serious. Absolutely. I take that to heart. I hate war once again. But I think you think back to the Iranians killing 241 Marines. I would’ve been in medical school then, before that, they kidnapped and held hostage 60-some Americans for 444 days. Over the past several years, the 160 attacks by Iranians on American forces as well. There is a price to pay for freedom, unfortunately, and I appreciate soldiers being willing to do that.”
“I believe that we obliterated those particular nuclear facilities, but now they were starting nuclear programs and in other places, and just their willingness to do that was just thumbing their nose at us.”
On oil prices and Russian sanctions:
“Look, there are a lot of balls here, Kaitlan. I think you can look at any one of these in a silo. I think it’s complicated. I think the lifting of the oil sanctions on India, buying Russian oil, I think that’s doing something good for America right now. But I think you must take it every day, one day at a time. You must weigh all these things as well. Of course, I have no use for Russia either, but I think all of this is a very delicate situation.”
“Well, I think it’s obvious to bring down the price of oil to help Americans back home. Look, I have no use for Russia. I would prefer maximum sanctions. Remember, the president uses tariffs to get these sanctions. So, India would stop buying oil from Russia and said they would buy it from us. But suddenly we have a problem. 20% of the world’s oil supply is locked down because it can’t get through the Strait right now. So, the President didn’t do this to help Russia. The President did this to help Americans, right?”
“I think you’re really reaching here. I think just as quickly as we took those sanctions away, we can put them back on. So, I think again, it’s one day at a time you live in this little ivory tower here. I don’t think that you’re dealing with the real world that President Trump has. We don’t know when the war is going to be over. We don’t know when the sanctions should go back on.”
“So again, freedom is not free. Americans are going to have to make some sacrifices, but we’re operating from a point of strength. Isn’t it great that compared to when I was growing up in the 70s, we were so dependent upon Middle East oil, but now we’re the largest producer of oil in the world, and we’re the second biggest exporter of oil in the world, so we’re not going to be shut out economically from this. We at least have the oil here. Yes, it’s a worldwide commodity, but this is one of the prices of war. Are we willing to stand here for 47 years and let Iran beat the heck out of Americans and kill 1000s of Americans? Or are we willing to stand up?”
“To me, this is all about election integrity. And I think the real question we should be asking is, why in a world, in a country where 70% of Democrats support voter ID, can’t 10 Democrats walk across the aisle and vote with us? I think that’s the real question we should be talking about right here. I’m in favor of voter ID. I’m in favor of bringing back integrity to elections. That elections are so important that they’re the backbone of the foundation of a democracy. And 70% of Democrats think that as well. So, I think that’s the issue we should be debating.”
“But, but they’re not perfect. I can tell you why 60% of Americans have concerns about election integrity. 60% of Americans are concerned about election integrity. You know, one way I looked at this is, you don’t wait for a plane to crash to require pilots to get a license, right? So, let’s bring back more integrity. Let’s trust but verify if you must get an ID to buy Sudafed or to go to get a hotel room tonight. Don’t you think that confirming an ID in an election has more value than those two things? So, I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
“Hold on, hold on, I think that’s not right. We’ve had voter ID for 15 years, and it’s worked just fine. I’m not sure what the Secretary of State from Kansas is referring to. Maybe he’s talking about some other issue with the elections, but it’s certainly not voter ID.”
“So, what the Secretary was talking about, there was proof of citizenship, and that went to the Supreme Court. And what the Supreme Court said wasn’t that we couldn’t require proof of citizenship. What the Supreme Court said is, if that’s what Congress wants, they need to put that in law, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. And I think they’d be the same way with absentee ballot, we trust but verify. We want to verify people’s IDs when they send in mail-in ballots. What is the objection to it?”
On Democrats’ refusal to support election integrity:
“So, what are you afraid of? What are Democrats afraid of? You’re making their argument, which is your job. But again, 70% of Democrats, 80% of Americans, want voter ID. If they want to debate some of these other issues, about absentee ballots, about proof of citizenship, let’s debate it. But have you heard one Democrat say, Democrat Senator say, I want voter ID that I want to make sure that our elections have integrity, that it’s so important. Instead, they just throw up their hands at everything. So why don’t they come to the table, come across the table, across the aisle, and let’s make our elections have more integrity?”
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Contact: Payton Fuller
