ICYMI: On CBS’s Face the Nation, Kelly Sounds Alarm on Escalation in Venezuela, Urges Support for Ukraine, and Calls for Swift Action to End Shutdown

“We want to keep fentanyl out of the United States.”

“Vladimir Putin is a former KGB officer. He is a master manipulator.”

“The President wants to fix this premium thing, and he wants the government open. That’s what we want.”

In case you missed it, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly joined CBS’s Margaret Brennan this weekend to discuss why President Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is not just dangerous, but ineffective and on shaky legal ground.  

Kelly also laid out how Trump reversed on long-range weapons for Ukraine after speaking with Vladimir Putin and urged serious negotiations to end the government shutdown and lower health care premiums before rates rise on November 1. 

Sen. Kelly speaks to Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation

Watch the full interview here. See key excepts below: 

On the flawed rationale behind U.S. strikes in the Caribbean… 

“They had a very hard time explaining to us the rationale for doing this and the constitutionality of doing it when you consider what the law of warfare, especially at sea. It was a very convoluted argument. […] The brief we got had a tremendous number of holes in it. They had to go around and around to give us the legal rationale for doing this.  

What are we trying to accomplish here? We want to keep fentanyl out of the United States. I don’t know how widely known this is, but those routes through the Caribbean on boats are predominantly used to bring cocaine to Europe. […] Fentanyl tends to come from a different way. We want to keep fentanyl out of the United States.” 

On the Trump administration’s push for regime change in Venezuela… 

“Regime change hasn’t ever really worked out well for us as a nation where we’ve supported that, whether in Vietnam, Cuba, Iraq, Afghanistan. It doesn’t go the way we think, and it puts a tremendous number of Americans in harm’s way.” 

On Trumps’s shift after speaking with Putin… 

“The President [Trump] said he would consider giving them this weapon system and then he had a conversation with Vladimir Putin. I think it’s important for people to recognize Vladimir Putin is a former KGB officer. He is a master manipulator. The President has one view, then he talks to Vladimir Putin, and he changes his story on this.” 

On ending the government shutdown and negotiating health care premiums…  

“We should be able to wrap this up this week if they will sit down and have a negotiation with us. The President has spent one hour negotiating this issue with leadership in Congress. That’s it. One hour. They need to get in a room and stay in a room until we can hash this out. The President said he wants to fix this premium thing and he wants the government open. That’s what we want.” 

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