Senator Marshall: I’m Standing with the President on Iran
Senator Marshall Joins Squawk Box on CNBC
New York City – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined CNBC’s Squawk Box with Joe Kernen and Becky Quick to discuss the ongoing negotiations with Iran, emphasizing diplomacy backed by strength as the best path to achieving long-term peace and security in the region. He also discussed the Democratic Party’s shift toward socialism and outlined Senate Republicans’ efforts to advance President Trump’s agenda.
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On Alan Greenspan and his legacy:
“Absolutely. Of course, I was busy delivering babies when he was ready to show up here, but certainly a steady force, multiple presidents, both sides of the aisle as well. Think he called balls and strikes, pretty much.”
On Vice President Vance’s negotiations with Iran:
“Well, I’m excited to hear what the Vice President said right there. When I look at Iran and what the President and Vice President are doing right now, I kind of look at it like there’s three roads they’re going down: they got to take care of the nuclear situation, have to figure out Lebanon, and then kind of everything else. Whether it’s the relief of sanctions, the missiles, all that stuff, and that’s where this regional play has to come in. But it sounds like with Lebanon, they made great progress. They’ve got an area of détente, if you will — a demilitarized zone is what they’re kind of cooking up here. It’s great that we included Lebanon in the deal, otherwise it’s just a tinder box. So, I think that’s the best news we could have hoped for this morning.”
“Yeah, no doubt. Look, it was up to me, Iran wouldn’t be left with a slingshot, but I think that would take some type of long-term bombing campaign, it would take boots on the ground. So, the second-best thing here is to set up a demilitarized zone. And you’re right — I served in the military myself, there’s a chain of command, if a junior officer would do something like that, it would be the end of his career, he’d be in jail for years to come as well. And that’s not the way these terrorists work.”
“They’re certainly responsible for funding it. But it’s really hard to control them out in the field, and we just need to make sure again this comes to regional control. Look, we have defanged Iran, so surely the Gulf countries there, can control them, wrap their arms around them, and say, “No, none of this, you’re going to stop funding the terrorists.” And by stopping funding them, I think you’ll see less lone rangers out there.”
On his position on the Iran conflict:
“Well, certainly I’m standing with the President here. I’m always an American first senator, but I hate war. I want to be real clear — I hate war. We don’t want forever war, I want to make sure that Americans have affordable gas and groceries, so that’s why this memorandum of understanding works for me.”
“I would have preferred not to, but I think he made a very brave decision, and I supported the decision then as well. But all the time, again, my dad served, my brother served, I served, my son is serving, I hate war. But I think that the benefits outweigh the risk. I mourn the loss of 13 soldiers right now, as well. Joe, to answer your question, I would say most issues in the Senate, it’s a third, and a third, and a third. I think a third of us are supporting the President, supporting this memorandum, and understanding we want this war to end.”
On passing President Trump’s priorities in the Senate:
“So, with 53 Republican senators, you’re going to find 53 opinions. We’re very strong-willed, typically top of our class type of folks, so we’ve got opinions. So the hope is that if we debate within us, we e take two plus two and turn it into eight. I do think we have the votes for, say, 50 votes to get Save across the finish line — but not that enough votes that would flip the filibuster in order to get there. So, depending on which Save Act you’re talking about, the details of it. So, I think that at least 50 Republicans, if not all 53, want to make sure that you have some type of ID when you vote and proof of citizenship when you register. But they don’t want to flip the filibuster, and again, I think the filibuster — I bet it’s a third, and a third, and a third for it, against it, flipping it, and then a third that are undecided. But the President is coming Wednesday to meet with all of us — looking forward to that. He’s going to try to sell all these issues, and by the way, he’s one of the better salesmen I’ve ever met.”
“You know, that’s the challenge right now. Even just — what do we do with this agreement with Iran when it’s done? The Democrats rather see the president fail than have long-term peace, so they’ll never vote for any type of peace agreement, or treaty, or anything like that. So, it is a challenge. They vote against funding for ICE and Border Patrol — they continue to be the obstructionist party. They’re willing to sacrifice anything that’s good for hardworking Americans in order to fight back to make Trump look bad.”
On the rise of socialism in the Democratic party:
“Yeah, I would love to see the socialists come to Kansas and campaign, and when AOC came and campaigned, my numbers went up 10 points. So, they got their poster boys, and we don’t mind them being in the news every day. No, I think you’ll find a lot of Kansans have a little libertarian streak, they’re conservative, but they just want the government to leave them alone, raise their family, maybe have a bass boat and a nice truck, some of things like that. So, I think that we are on the opposite spectrum of socialism.”
“I was with my mom and dad, of course, for Father’s Day, and that’s exactly what my dad said, is I can’t believe we have a communist in charge of New York City, the heartbeat of America, the financial capital of the world, and really the communications capital of the world, as well. We have a communist running the city. It’s a tough day.”
“I went to a community college, and then to Kansas State for my undergraduate, and then to Kansas University for medical school. My undergraduate was Kansas State, then medical school. So, I bleed purple, but KU Med Center. Was raised on KU basketball. The Wheel was probably my favorite — they both serve a lot of beer. But there’s plenty of beer on both of the campuses, and just a great, great college atmosphere.”
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Contact: Payton Fuller
