Seven minutes just to let you know
that time frame for
our discussion.
Thank you.
There is a new 10-day ceasefire
between Israel and Lebanon,
and we're into week two of a
ceasefire with Iran.
And new today, Iran announces
the Strait of Hormuz is open.
The temporary détente in the war
with Iran comes in the midst of a
buildup of US forces having steamed
into the region.
Last week, we interviewed Democratic
US Second District Representative
Mark Pocan, who called
the US-Israel war with Iran,
chaos piled on top of chaos.
Tonight, we turn to Republican U.S.
Senator Ron Johnson.
And Senator, thanks very much for
being here.
Well, Federico, thanks for having me
on.
So it seems to be welcome news that
Iran has declared the Strait
of Hormuz open.
But what about Representative
Pocan's comment that this war
is chaos on top of
chaos?
Are you satisfied with the war
planning that went into this and
the move since?
You know, last weekend I was on one
of the Sunday morning shows,
and the host started the interview
by saying that I was supportive
of the war in Iran.
And I pushed back immediately by
saying, no, I am absolutely opposed
to the war the Iranian
Ayatollahs declared on
America 47 years ago.
The fact that they have hundreds,
probably thousands of Americans'
blood on their hands, and obviously
tens of thousands of their own
citizens' blood in their hands.
So what I am supportive of
is ending that war once
and for all, ending the
threat, ending the menace,
ending any possibility that they
could obtain a nuclear weapon which
could be existential to America.
So yeah, is war messy?
Is it chaotic?
Sure.
I don't like war.
But we had to act
before we weren't able to act,
before they became a nuclear power,
before they had so many missiles and
so many drones.
That taking this action would have
devastated the region.
It's been destructive enough.
But again, so I support President
Trump's very difficult decision.
This is good news.
I think we have
dramatically degraded
Iran's capability to be a state
sponsor of terror, to develop
a nuclear weapon, to hold the
Strait of Hormuz hostage.
And I think this latest blockade
is certainly
proving its worth
in bringing it.
Iran finally to negotiating
table and forcing to
force them into what should be as
close to, you know,
unilateral disarmament and just,
you know unconditional surrender as
possible.
And so you think it's a diplomatic
course at this point, not a
bombing course to, quote, finish
the job, as you've said you want to
do?
Yeah, when President Trump met with
the families of the fallen at Dover,
the dignified return,
he reported in his speech that the
families, almost to a person, said,
OK, we've sacrificed.
Now finish the job.
I think it'd be not
good if we left a
regime in place, continue
to be dedicated to enrich uranium,
not give up those uranium
stockpiles, continue to build up
their missile and drone stockpile
to continue to threaten the region
and threaten world peace.
So I want to finish the job.
We have obviously decimated their
leadership, we've decimated
their missiles, their drones, their
nuclear program, but we haven't
finished the job, but we need to do
that.
You took exception last week to
the president threatening to wipe
out an entire civilization in
Iran. It was a newsworthy
rebuke from a high-ranking
Republican.
What did you think when you saw that
threat?
I guess I wouldn't call it a rebuke.
I was asked a question, I gave
an honest answer.
We're not at war with
Iranian people. And in fact, we are
trying to do everything we can to
support them.
We want to liberate
the Iranian people, not impoverish
them. So again, President Trump
has a certain negotiating style.
I mean, I for one, am hoping and
praying it works.
I mean Fredericka, just think.
Of how, if all these things are
successful, it looks like Venezuela
is on the road to success.
If we can tame Iran,
if we can remove that regime and
get more responsible leadership in
there who are going to be more
interested in governing Iran for the
benefit of its people, as opposed
to their ideology, being a
state-sponsor territory, I mean,
just understand how positively
that could reset global
politics or the geopolitical
situation throughout the world.
If Cuba could reclaim.
If Cubans could reclaim their
liberty, their freedom.
I mean, these are, Iran
should be incredibly successful
in prosperous nation as should
Venezuela, as should Cuba.
And it's only through American
leadership that those things can
happen.
As to not being at war
with the Iranian people,
an Iranian UW student that
is now there says it very
much feels to her like the
U.S. Is at war with
the people.
How do you respond to that?
That's one person's opinion.
Again, we're not doing polls.
I mean, they've obviously canceled
the internet so we don't know
exactly what's happening inside
Iran.
I think one of the reasons the
Iranian regime is so brutal to its
people. I mean they executed 30 to
40,000 of their own citizens in
a couple of days.
Okay, my guess is a large majority
of Iranians would like to see the
Ayatollahs gone on the
dustbin in history, the sooner the
better. Again, there are
certainly people within Iran who
support the Mullahs and the
Ayatollahs.
But I just have to believe, when you
take a look at the long history of
Iran, the Persian people and stuff,
this has been a prosperous land.
The Ayatolahs have just devastated
what could be an incredibly
prosperous and freedom-loving
type of country.
How in your mind can ordinary
Iranian citizens,
like that UW student
of whom we spoke, rise
up and take over the regime?
Well, it's very difficult.
I pointed this out in the past.
You know, for those who just want to
keep pushing nationwide
gun control and those who want
to disarm America, this is
what it looks like when a population
disarmed, when the only people that
have bullets and rifles and
weapons are a brutal regime.
It leads to tyranny.
We had some
pretty interesting testimony in
the Senate.
This past week,
Congressman Thomas Massie went
through the list of regime after
regime after regime, brutal
dictatorial regimes leading
to the deaths of millions of their
citizens, the first action
was always disarming the population.
So it's difficult.
I think we've certainly weakened
the regime. It's as weak as it's
ever been in its 47 years.
We may have to do some assistance.
We may have t o provide some.
I'll call it assistance, to the
Iranian people so they can finally
over top of that regime.
Senator Ron Johnson, we leave it
there. Thanks very much for joining
us again.
Have a good day.
Thank you, Senator.
I have so many more questions, but
no more time, so.
Okay.
Well, next time. Thank you sir.
Hey, I wanted to ask you this
though. Just before we went on, and
we're not recording, but
before we go on, you wanted to make
sure about when this was airing
because of this weekend.
Is there anything in particular?
No, I mean, you just don't know.
I mean if it's airing Sunday.