Click here to view Senator Cotton’s interview.
In case you missed it — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) joined Jonathan Karl on “This Week” on ABC News to discuss the recent protests on college campuses, the 2024 presidential election, and more.
In part, Senator Cotton said:
On campus protests: “The Democrats, though, they have deep philosophical divisions on Israel. That's why you see all these little Gazas out there on campuses, where you have people chanting vile, anti-Semitic rhetoric, that is not something that's going to go away.”
On President Biden’s delayed response to the protests: “Yes, it was absolutely too late. It was two weeks after these pro- Hamas fanatics had taken over a lot of campuses and set up these little Gazas. Second, he didn't specifically speak to what they're saying and what they're doing. They're chanting "final solution" or telling Jews to go back to where they came from. They're spray-painting buildings with vile anti-Semitic hate. He said, well, we shouldn't have anti-Semitism, or hate speech in the abstract, or Islamophobia. Where are the encampments, Jon, on campuses spreading Islamophobia? Why is Joe Biden so equivocal?”
On the 2024 election: “You have patriots, like these frat boys at UNC and around the country who are defending the American flag, and Joe Biden refused for two weeks to come out and announce it. That's, that is the 2024 election.”
Senator Cotton’s full interview may be found here and below.
Jonathan Karl: I'm joined now in studio by Republican Senator Tom Cotton. So, Senator Cotton, before we get to the campus situation in 2024, I want to ask you about Ukraine. You have been a prominent and consistent supporter for U.S. support for Ukraine against Russia. But right now we are seeing a situation in the House, where Speaker of the House Johnson, is facing an effort to throw him out as Speaker because he made it possible for the House to pass that bill.
Senator Cotton: Well, first off, I want to say I think Speaker Johnson is doing an outstanding job. I agree with President Trump on that, I agree that we need to have unity in our party right now as we face off against Joe Biden and the Democrats. In the legislation the House passed, and that we passed after the House, was not just about Ukraine, it was also supporting Israel, and supporting Taiwan, and taking actions like making sure TikTok, or TikTok's parent company has to divest, new sanctions on Russia, the ability to take Russian assets to support the Ukraine war effort in the future. So it was a vital piece of national security legislation. The large majority of Republicans supported it. And I think you're gonna see the large majority of Republicans back Speaker Johnson next week as well.
Jonathan Karl: But actually, in the House, a majority of Republicans voted against it.
Senator Cotton: Well, about two thirds of House Republicans said they wanted to support Ukraine in one way or another, even if they didn't support that specific piece of legislation. It was a much smaller majority that voted to cut off aid entirely. So Speaker Johnson has about two thirds of his entire conference behind them on that specific issue, and almost all of them behind him on the question of Israel or Taiwan, for instance. Unlike the Democrats, who are deeply divided about Israel's war of survival against Hamas and Gaza.
Jonathan Karl: In the Senate, it was a majority, solid majority that supported this, but 15 Republican senators voted no. And I was struck by what Senator Mike Lee, your Republican colleague in the Senate said about Ukraine funding, Taiwan, Israel, that whole package. He said it was unadulterated capitulation to vote for that bill. And then it was a bill that was a war monger wish list, a war monger wish list, pushed through by Speaker Johnson? I mean, are we seeing a return, at least in some quarters, to kind of isolationist Republican Party?
Senator Cotton: No, I think what you see among a lot of Republicans, they have legitimate and reasonable concerns about our defense industrial base's ability to support our own military, much less other countries, wars. I share those concerns, and I think the way to do that is to invest more in that defense industrial base, but that's largely a practical difference about circumstances here and our defense industrial base. The Democrats, though, they have deep philosophical divisions on Israel. That's why you see, all these little Gazas out there on campuses, where you have people chanting vile, anti-Semitic rhetoric, that is not something that's going to go away.
Jonathan Karl: Well, let me ask you about that. We saw President Biden come out. I mean, it was, I'm sure you think it was too late. But he did come out and he clearly condemned the violence. He's condemned the anti-Semitism. I assume you agree with what he did, even if it was?
Senator Cotton: So no, I think you're mischaracterizing what he did. Yes, it was absolutely too late. It was two weeks after these pro- Hamas fanatics had taken over a lot of campuses and set up these little Gazas. Second, he didn't specifically speak to what they're saying and what they're doing. They're chanting "final solution" or telling Jews to go back to where they came from. They're spray-painting buildings with vile anti-Semitic hate. He said, well, we shouldn't have anti-Semitism, or hate speech in the abstract, or Islamophobia. Where are the encampments, Jon, on campuses spreading Islamophobia? Why is Joe Biden so equivocal? Why does he have to draw moral equivalence between 1000s of students who are setting up these little Gazas all across America and engage in hate speech, engage in hate speech against Jews, assaulting Jews, disobeying the law, and some fictional encampment that's spreading Islamophobia.
Jonathan Karl: Can I ask you, you just three or four times now just use the phrase little Gaza? What do you mean by that?
Senator Cotton: Well, they call themselves the Gaza solidarity encampment, they're little. They're little Gazas.
Jonathan Karl: I mean, are you, it seems like you're mocking the situation in Gaza.
Senator Cotton: A lot of a lot of these people, these people do deserve to be mocked.
Jonathan Karl: Well, no, no, Gaza. I'm talking about, you know, "Gaza" on college campuses. We had the World Food Program has just now said that there is an outright famine in parts of Gaza. 10s of 1000s of people will die. And I'm using this phrase, little Gazas-
Senator Cotton: Which is 100% the fault of Hamas, just like every civilian casualty in Gaza is 100% the fault of Hamas. Yet Joe Biden, for seven months, has leaned on Israel, has pressured Benjamin Netanyahu, has told them to stand down when they get attacked by Iran, has said that they can't go into the last holdout where Hamas has its final terrorist battalions. But no, the students on campuses, they deserve our contempt. They also deserve our mockery. I mean, they're out there and they're in 95 masks in the open air. With their gluten allergies, demanding that Uber Eats get delivered to them. They should not have been allowed to fester on campus for too weeks, when these liberal administrators and liberal politicians refused to stand in the police to clear them out the very first day they set up their tents.
Jonathan Karl: I mean, look, it's clear, there's been some vile stuff going on in some of these protests. It's also clear that there are some people exercising their right to protest. I assume we can agree that that's okay.
Senator Cotton: You can protest all you want. If you want to make a fool of yourself and support a terrorist group, you can do that. Now, if you're a foreigner, you can't. And where's Joe Biden's administration demanding that universities turn over the names of any foreign students here on a visa, revoking those visas and deporting them? That's something that Joe Biden could do today. But you are not allowed to violate campus rules and policies and break the law. Where were the liberal administrators and liberal politicians sending in the police on the very first day. We should not have tolerated this for a moment. I mean, you have Jewish students who have been assaulted on campus. Jewish students have been told it's not safe for you to come. Go back home. Just blocks from here, just blocks from here, Jon, you have one of the biggest little Gazas left at George Washington University, yesterday called for a guillotine, for the beheading of university administrators. So is that not violent? They defaced-
Jonathan Karl: I mean, like I said, there's no doubt there's plenty of vile stuff going on. There's no doubt there's also some people legitimately-
Senator Cotton: What's underneath this all, what's underneath this is anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. But what's underneath it all, Jon, what's underneath it all, is a hatred for this country. That's why you find flyers once they get once they cleared out says Death to America. And while just blocks from where we sit right now, these fanatics have defaced a statue of George Washington. They spray painted it calling him a genocidal war monger. I mean, I mean, that's a terrorists headdress George Washington.
Jonathan Karl: That, that's indefensible. But let me let me move on-
Senator Cotton: But that's the kind of thing that Joe Biden and Democrats are tolerating.
Jonathan Karl: You've made your views abundantly clear, but let me move on to 2024. You've been mentioned as a possible Trump running mate, is that is that talk real?
Senator Cotton: Well, first off, Jon, like, what we're talking about is 2024.
Jonathan Karl: Okay.
Senator Cotton: The reason why Donald Trump, it’s one of the many reasons why Donald Trump is going to win this election, is you got Democratic protesters out there putting a terrorist headdress on a statue of George Washington.
Jonathan Karl: I mean I don't know who was a Democrat or not, a lot of these people were very upset with Joe Biden, but what about you? Are you, is that real? This talk about being a running mate?
Senator Cotton: You have patriots, like these frat boys at UNC and around the country who are defending the American flag, and Joe Biden refused for two weeks to come out and announce it. That's, that is the 2024 election. Now as far as your question is concerned, I know that you and everyone else loves to speculate, and it's part of the game, about who's gonna be vice president, who's gonna be in the cabinet? I don't think it's particularly helpful to Donald Trump. I don't think that it's good to be out there campaigning and putting-
Jonathan Karl: Would you serve if asked?
Senator Cotton: Jon, Jon, it's not helpful. What Donald Trump is focused on is winning this election. What I'm focused on is helping him win and making sure Republicans win the Congress. When he's ready to make his decision about vice president he will, after the election he'll make his decision about the cabinet. Until then, anyone out campaigning for the job or pushing for the job, is not helpful to what we should all be focused on, which is winning the election.
Jonathan Karl: You remember what happened to the last vice president, Mike Pence, did Pence do the right thing? By not doing what Trump asked him to do on January 6?
Senator Cotton: Look, I think the Constitution was clear that neither the Congress nor the vice president had the ability to reject those electors. It's also clear that it wasn't going to work because Nancy Pelosi controlled the House.
Jonathan Karl: So, let me ask you, you were very clear and unequivocal in what you said on January 6, and in the aftermath, I want to pull up the quote of a specific line you said on that day: "It's past time for the President to accept the results of the election, quit misleading the American people, and repudiate mob violence." More than three years later, Trump has still not accepted the results. He is still misleading the American people.
Senator Cotton: Jon, he did it, he did it that very day. He put out videos and he put out statements on social media, telling those rioters to stand down, just like he had said in the speech that day.
Jonathan Karl: No, you said it's past time for the president to accept the results, he still hasn't accepted the results of the election.
Senator Cotton: Jon, he says, and I agree that the election was not fair, that it was rigged in many ways with Democratic states and cities changing election law and election practices up to the last minute with the media, to include your network and 51 Democratic intelligence operatives, saying the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, and social media then censoring all those things. Those are all deeply unfair.
Jonathan Karl: I mean, he was talking about rigged voting machines and everything else.
Senator Cotton: I'd never, I never, and Donald Trump has not like, we've never said like, I don't know, crazy conspiracies about Venezuela rigging the voting machines.
Jonathan Karl: Just one last thing on this. He's also calling the people that attacked the Capitol "hostages." And he's suggesting that he would may pardon all of them. I mean, I assume you don't agree with that.
Senator Cotton: He said that he would consider pardons and some of them probably, some of them probably deserve. Jon, some of them have been held in pretrial detention longer than the crimes for which they are-
Jonathan Karl: So, you agree that they're hostages?
Senator Cotton: Some have been held in pretrial detention longer than the sentences for the crime with which they are charged. Now, anyone who assaulted a police officer or damaged public property, that's different. For people who just wandered into the Capitol they thought was open or was on the grounds-
Jonathan Karl: I mean, this wasn't wandering, this wasn't a tourist visit. You haven't said this stuff.
Senator Cotton: Where's all the, no, I've said for a long time that the DOJ is using investigative techniques and tactics that they didn't use for instance, when you had a left wing street militia, threatening to assassinate Supreme Court justices. They're not using-
Jonathan Karl: For the record, you're not in favor of pardoning people that attacked police officers or broke into the Capitol building?
Senator Cotton: People who were involved in that riot who assaulted police officers, or who defaced and damaged public property, should face the legal consequences. But we shouldn't be using the kind of-
Jonathan Karl: Isn't it odd that the Republican nominee doesn't agree with that?
Senator Cotton: He's does agree with that Jon. What shouldn't be used is every grandma who had a red MAGA hat that was within a country mile the Capitol on January 6, shouldn't be sitting in pretrial detention for a longer time that the crimes for which they might face a sentence.
Jonathan Karl: All right, Senator Cotton, thank you very much for joining us here this morning.
Senator Cotton: Thank you.