Mitch McConnell Zings Tulsi Gabbard In Remarks Slamming 'Appeasers And Isolationists' Against Iran Strike

Forbes Breaking News

In Senate floor remarks on Tuesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) slammed those against President Trump's strikes on Iran, and took aim at DNI Tulsi Gabbard.

Transcript

00:00When Iran's proxies launched a full-scale war on Israel, October 7th, 2023, President Biden

00:16pledged an unwavering commitment to Israel's security. That was the right message in the

00:26moment. But as I warned publicly at the time, Israel needed more than just rhetorical

00:35solidarity. Like Ukraine, Israel needed precious time, space to maneuver, and material support

00:48to defeat a shared enemy. And yet, as in Ukraine, America's commitment

00:55has indeed wavered. Our support has not been ironclad. Instead, under the previous

01:04administration, American support was delayed, restricted, and paired with attempts to micromanage

01:15Israel's operations and even interfere with Israeli politics. And at every turn, the progressive

01:26left and isolationist right hyperventilated about the specter of so-called forever war.

01:37Fortunately, Israel held its ground. Israelis certainly weren't enthused about a ground war

01:48in Gaza. Their leaders knew that war would be difficult. But they knew it was unavoidable

01:57so long as Hamas terrorists still refused to release the hostages. They also knew lasting security meant

02:08changing Iran's calculus, not just responding to attacks from proxies. So Israel decided to turn

02:20Iran's terrorist assets into liabilities. Despite the pearl clutching here in Washington, our allies

02:31simultaneously decapitated Hezbollah and crippled Hamas. Their bold operations created a new opportunity

02:44for Lebanon to claw back its sovereignty from a terrorist state within a state. Meanwhile, the collapse

02:54of the brutal Assad regime in Syria brought down a Russian vassal in Iran's favorite corridor of weapons

03:06and terrorist finance and terrorist finance. These are the circumstances President Trump inherited.

03:16What to do with them has been the subject of quite some debate. Some of his advisors and supporters

03:26came with Obama-Biden-era talking points, ready to urge him to continue his predecessor's policy

03:35of constraining Israel. Some argued publicly that America had no vital or existential interest

03:46in the Middle East or claimed the region was a distraction from other priorities. They warned of forever war.

03:58Some seemed to push for nuclear negotiations with parameters eerily similar to the nuclear deal the President withdrew from his first term.

04:13They even proposed Iran could keep enriching uranium until the President rightly, correctly quashed that idea.

04:25These mixed messages emboldened Iran and its proxies. After all, why give up if administration officials

04:37saw the Middle East as a little more than a distraction or if they seem as fearful of restoring deterrence

04:46as the U.S. as the previous guys. So Hamas kept holding the hostages. The Houthis kept targeting Israel

04:58and Red Sea commerce. And the Islamic Republic kept marching toward a nuclear weapon.

05:05And in response, Israel took the next logical step to restore deterrence. Once again,

05:17innovative and decisive strikes destroyed Iran's air defenses and imposed immediate costs on Tehran.

05:28And leaders across Israel's politics stood united behind the daring operations. Ah, but here in America,

05:40the same restrainers, anti-Israel progressives and self-proclaimed realists warned again of regional

05:53conflagration if the President intervened alongside or even supported Israel's strikes. The President's own,

06:04his own director of national intelligence, traveled to Hiroshima to record a bizarre video,

06:12not as a warning against Iran's nuclear ambitions, but presumably against American or Israeli operations

06:23to blunt them. Now, fortunately, the President rejected the pleas of appeasers and isolationists.

06:33The strikes he ordered dealt a massive blow to Iran's nuclear program,

06:39bolstered American credibility, and strengthened U.S. and Israel's leverage to end Iran's pursuit of nuclear

06:50weapons and its support for terrorism for good. Thanks to Israelis' historic efforts for more than a year and a half,

07:04Iran's ability to threaten regional stability is massively degraded. Not since before the Islamic

07:15Revolution has there been such an opportunity for America, Israel, and our Arab partners to reset

07:26regional dynamics on such favorable terms. Achieving it has required no large-scale deployment of U.S. ground

07:37forces. It required only supporting our friends. Israel is a close ally and a strategic asset,

07:46not a liability. And the strategic return on our investment in assisting Israel is incalculable.

08:01Standing with our Israeli friends offers a powerful lesson about American leadership,

08:09the value of alliances and partnership, the value of alliances and partnerships, and the real nature of peace

08:17through strength. And this lesson extends far, far beyond the...

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