In case you missed it — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) joined Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” to discuss Israeli forces rescuing four hostages being held by Hamas, President Joe Biden’s foreign policy failures, and the 2024 presidential election.
In part, Senator Cotton said:
On Israeli forces rescuing hostages from Hamas: “What a wonderful day for the people of Israel to have four of these hostages rescued in a truly heroic, well-executed mission yesterday. I had a chance to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly after the mission. He commended the Israeli Defense Forces and Shin Bet and the Israeli police who helped execute this operation. I'm very dismayed by sources from the progressive left here in America, to include the New York Times and Washington Post, are somehow condemning Israel for saving four hostages at the cost of supposedly more than 200 Palestinians.”
On President Biden’s criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: “Well, this is just another slander by Joe Biden against Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government at large. Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies are very popular. There is a war cabinet that is signing off on missions like you saw yesterday. At every turn, Joe Biden has tried to limit Israel's freedom of action, their ability to defend themselves, and to put more pressure on Israel, not pressure on Hamas and its patrons in the Middle East.”
Senator Cotton’s full interview may be found here and below.
Shannon Bream: Joining us now, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton. Welcome back to the show. I want to start with your reaction to that daring rescue and the good news.
Senator Cotton: Shannon, thanks for having me on. What a wonderful day for the people of Israel to have four of these hostages rescued in a truly heroic, well-executed mission yesterday. I had a chance to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu shortly after the mission. He commended the Israeli Defense Forces and Shin Bet and the Israeli police who helped execute this operation. I'm very dismayed by sources from the progressive left here in America, to include the New York Times and Washington Post, are somehow condemning Israel for saving four hostages at the cost of supposedly more than 200 Palestinians. Now, we can't take at face value what Hamas says through the supposed Gaza Ministry of Health, but my advice to them would be if you don't want your people killed in hostage rescue missions, then you shouldn't take hostages in the first place, you should release them once you have, and you certainly shouldn't hide them in civilian areas. So, hats off to the Israeli security forces for a fantastic day in rescuing these four hostages.
Shannon Bream: So, we understand there are still Americans being held. There has been discussion about whether our own special forces should be operating that region. I know that, you know, there's great concern about U.S. forces being on the ground there, there's been a pledge that won't happen. But what about our hostages and getting them out?
Senator Cotton: Well, Shannon, our military has several units that are specifically trained in hostage rescue. They always have to be available and ready to rescue American citizens wherever they may be. Those are our responsibilities, not Israel's or any other nations. That said, the Israeli Defense Forces and security forces have the expertise operating in Gaza and working with the American government and specifically our intelligence services as well. I'm confident that if Israel, Israel's government had a chance to rescue American citizens, they would do the exact same for our citizens that they would do for Israel. But our hostage rescue teams always have to be available. We simply wouldn't want to have any kind of conflict inside with Israel's hostage rescue teams. We want to work with them hand in glove to make sure every hostage gets back alive.
Shannon Bream: Yeah. And there are more than 100 of them. We're still trying to figure out how they come home. In the meantime, the President gave an interview to Time magazine a few days ago, and he was asked this: some in Israel have suggested that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation. Do you believe that? President Biden responded: I'm not going to comment on that, but then added this. There's every reason for people to draw that conclusion. What do you make of that response from him about our ally in the region? And what do you say to critics who say that is exactly what Netanyahu is doing?
Senator Cotton: Well, this is just another slander by Joe Biden against Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government at large. Prime Minister Netanyahu's policies are very popular. There is a war cabinet that is signing off on missions like you saw yesterday. At every turn, Joe Biden has tried to limit Israel's freedom of action, their ability to defend themselves, and to put more pressure on Israel, not pressure on Hamas and its patrons in the Middle East. Just look at what happened yesterday outside the White House: you have anti-American, pro-Hamas lunatics, defacing and desecrating the statues of our great veterans, which is a plain violation of federal law. But Joe Biden's government allowed it to happen, and I bet we're not going to see any arrests or prosecutions for violating that law. I'll introduce legislation this week that imposes stiffer penalties so we can lock these lunatics up. But Joe Biden thinks that these pro-Hamas, anti-American lunatics should be guiding American policy towards Israel. What we should be doing is backing Israel to the hilt, and if we had done that, since the October 7 attacks, this war would probably already be over, hostages would be freed, and there'd be less civilian casualties and suffering in Gaza. But Joe Biden is instead catering to the small, pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party instead of backing Israel like the large pro-Israel, majority of the American people want us to.
Shannon Bream: Yeah, that's what the polling shows. Let's talk about another hotspot, Ukraine. The President has been spending time with Vladimir Zelensky, Ukraine's president. He sent something this weekend talking with him. He apologized for the delay of aid, the latest round that comes through came through. And he said he blamed some of our very conservative members who were holding it up, says we finally got it done. You blocked one of the earlier packages. You had concerns about it. There were changes to it. You did ultimately vote for it. Do you think he's pointing the finger at you?
Senator Cotton: Well, Shannon, he should only be pointing the finger at himself. For more than two years, Joe Biden pussyfooted around and didn't give Ukraine the weapons it needed to defend itself. At every turn in this war, Ukraine has asked for certain types or quantities of weapons. Joe Biden has refused, only to reverse himself three or six or nine months later when it was too late. But take a step back and look at the broader context. Joe Biden is largely responsible for tempting Vladimir Putin to do what he's always wanted to do, which is invade and annex Ukraine back to Russia. And if you notice, Vladimir Putin only tends to invade Ukraine when Democrats are president. He did it under Barack Obama. He did it under Joe Biden. It did not happen under Donald Trump. For four years, we had peace and stability, and in fact, Donald Trump reversed Barack Obama and Joe Biden's failed policy of sending Ukrainians blankets and ponchos. When Donald Trump was in office, we sent them the javelins that were essential for winning the battle of Kyiv. And the way to have peace in Europe, and for that matter, peace and stability around the world, is to remove Joe Biden from the White House on election day this year and return Donald Trump. That's how we'll be back to peace and stability.
Shannon Bream: You talk about annexation. So, I want to bring this up, because there are reports that what President Trump plans to do to end that conflict is to potentially push Ukraine to give up Crimea, parts of Donbass. If that is the plan, do you agree with that strategy? And would that be reporting rewarding Putin in order to wrap this thing up in the way that he intended to start it and take some of that territory? Is that just giving him what he wanted?
Senator Cotton: Well Shannon, President Trump and his campaign has said that any reports of plans like that are not authorized and are not coming from the president himself. Furthermore, President Trump has said that he strongly supports Ukraine's strength and survival. He had a strong relationship when he was in office with President Zelensky. President Trump is the one that provided Ukraine the weapons they needed to fend off this Russian invasion that happened, in large part because of Joe Biden's weakness. I don't think President Trump wants to prejudge what the situation will be come January. Nor do I, in part because we have no idea how much worse Joe Biden can screw things up. We have to judge the circumstances as they exist next year when he returns to office. And hopefully, we can have a Republican majority in Congress as well to make decisions about what best protects America's interest and the interest of our allies and partners.
Shannon Bream: Well, some of the talk obviously is about you being on the shortlist for vice president. Can you confirm whether or not you're being vetted formally?
Senator Cotton: Well, Shannon, as I've said, I think only one person knows who's on the shortlist. And that be President Trump.
Shannon Bream: Well maybe paperwork, requests for those kinds of things.
Senator Cotton: I think that he'll make a choice when he's ready to make that choice. I'm confident he's going to make a good choice for the ticket and the party, more importantly, for the country. And I think that he'll, again, he'll make that choice when the time is right. I'm focused on helping him win this election and helping Republicans win that majority in the Congress so we can begin to reverse the damage that Joe Biden has inflicted on this country for four years.
Shannon Bream: I think it's fair to say that you all have made statements about things like NATO, international organizations, America's role on the global stage that are different. I mean, would you as vice president, advocate for policies that may not line up with your Commander-in-Chief. Do you think you all are too different on important issues of foreign policy?
Senator Cotton: No, I think President Trump and I have long been aligned on foreign policy. We both subscribe to what you might say what was Ronald Reagan's vision, which is peace through strength. For four years with President Trump in the White House, we had peace and stability around the globe. We didn't have wars breaking out in Europe and the Middle East and being threatened in Asia. We believe that you sometimes have to use military force in discriminate fashion the way President Trump did when he authorized a strike against Iran's terrorist mastermind, Qasem Soleimani. We believe that we need to pressure our allies to take more responsibility for funding our common defense or taking responsibility for what's happening in their own region, in part because America needs to take the lead against China in the western Pacific to preserve peace and stability there. So, I believe President Trump and I are aligned on foreign policy, just like Ronald Reagan was, which is what a peace through strength strategy, which is where the vast majority of not just Republicans, but normal Americans think. Only these pro-Hamas, anti-American lunatics in the Democratic Party think that America is to blame for what's happening in the world or that we should retreat from strength and confidence in the world.
Shannon Bream: Okay, we hope to hear from more from President Trump on the, maybe debate stage, on the campaign trail about his plans for Ukraine. In the meantime, Senator, thank you for your time. Keep us updated on that paperwork.
Senator Cotton: Thank you, Shannon.