Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) praised President Donald Trump on Sunday for conducting “long overdue” strikes on...
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-AR) praised President Donald Trump on Sunday for conducting “long overdue” strikes on Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
Cotton made the remarks during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked about the message that the U.S. aimed to send to Iran with the strikes.
He said that all of America’s adversaries — Russia, China, Iran, North Korea — want is to “upend the United States led order that has benefited our citizens for so long by keeping America safe and prosperous.”
“The strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen last night was long overdue,” Cotton said. “Going back to the October 7, attacks against Israel, they’ve been shutting down shipping in the Red Sea. That’s dangerous, not just for America’s sailors who are there, but also it’s bad for your wallet here in America. It drives up shipping costs, which drives up the prices you pay.”
“Yet Joe Biden, let our ships, let our sailors just sit in the Red Sea like sitting ducks,” he continued. “President Trump made it clear that it was long overdue. We’re not going to allow it anymore. We are going to protect our interests. And he also made it clear to Iran that we know what they’re up to. Where did a bunch of goat herders in Yemen get one-way attack drones and cruise missiles? They got them from Iran.”
Cotton said that the Houthis should know moving forward that if the Houthis “don’t get the lesson, then of course, I believe President Trump will strike back even twice as hard.”
“And once again, the most important threat is the threat of Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” he added. “It’s not just a threat to Israel or our friends in the Middle East. They’re also building intercontinental missiles under the flimsy cover of a space launch program that could strike the United States in just a number of years. So this is a direct and imminent threat to the United States. That’s why President Trump has said repeatedly, we’re in the final days of this dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. It’s really up to them how it ends.”