Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said in an interview that broke in June that her party would not let the opportunity slip to become the “anti-war party” after the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.
The airstrikes ordered by President Donald Trump on June 21 drew quick reactions from both parties, including from Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California. Politico’s Dasha Burns interviewed Shaheen during her outlet’s coverage of the NATO summit regarding how Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California tried to make the Democratic Party non-violent. The senator indicated she was misled.
“I just spoke with Congressman Ro Khanna, who is calling the Democratic Party to come in the direction of being an anti-war party. He indicated to me that in his view the party has gotten too hawkish,” Burns replied. “Is that the moment for Democrats to come in that direction, because you’re hearing from Americans that they do not want us to — I mean, one of the reasons why the president’s base is so disillusioned is that they voted for him because they believed he was an anti-war president, and he promised that we would not have foreign entanglements.”
“Is this a chance for Democrats? If you cannot see this message as a chance for the party, are you missing the chance?”
asked she.
Shaheen quickly responded that she disagreed with Khanna.
“No. And I think Ro Khanna is wrong. The fact is that foreign policy isn’t quite so simplistic,” replied the senator. “You can’t just say, ‘I’m against all wars,’ because they would all be against world or U.S. interests.” She explained that she believed it was necessary for the U.S. to stand with Ukraine against Russia.
“I think it’s a message that we have to send to our allies and our friends, and to our enemies,” Shaheen said. “‘I don’t want to get involved in any wars,’ isolationism movements — that’s where we’re going.” “We learned what happened at the beginning of World War II. And I don’t believe we Americans want to be in that situation again. Now, that doesn’t mean that we want to get entangled in every war — because we don’t.”
Trump ran on bringing an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and asserted in his January inaugural address that he wanted to end wars and not become embroiled in them. He asserted that his “proudest legacy will be as a peacemaker and a unifier.”
The Russia-Ukraine scandal rages on, but Trump did succeed in brokering a successful ceasefire at long last between Iran and Israel. Iran launched missiles at the Al Udeid US Air Force base in Qatar as retaliation for US instructions to bomb its nuclear facilities, but no casualties occurred and tensions remained contained.