WASHINGTON (CBS, KYMA/KECY) – Ohio Rep. Mike Turner spoke with Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday about election interference and Iran.
When Wehn asked whether he was satisfied “with what social media companies and US intelligence agencies are doing” to combat election interference, Turner replied:
“You know, I think what’s missing here is a government response. Microsoft has come forward and said the Trump administration had been hacked. The Biden administration has noted that Iran has attempted to do this, including spreading misinformation. But more than that, the government has admitted that Iran executed a plan to assassinate Donald Trump. They even claim that an individual they have in their possession was part of that plan. But there’s no real government response. Most national security experts agree that assassinating a presidential candidate would be an act of war by a foreign power. Well, an attempt is certainly an attempt, but at least requires a response, and the government is on the side of both hacking and misinformation and is not holding Iran accountable in relation to the alleged attempt on Donald Trump. There are no red lines.”
During the interview, Brennan and Turner discussed Trump’s stance on the war in Ukraine. Turner said, “Trump has made it clear that he wants to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. And that’s certainly not an anti-Ukrainian stance, but it’s certainly a stronger American stance.”
Brennan and Turner also discussed former President Trump’s recent comments on Iran. The former president said, “I don’t want to be mean to Iran. We’re going to be friendly… I hope we’re going to be friendly. But they can’t have nuclear weapons… and we’ve done everything we can to make sure they don’t have nuclear weapons, because once they do, it’s a very different world.”
When asked what he thought of the former president’s “mixed messages,” Turner said:
“I don’t think it’s a really contradictory message to recognize that the strengths of adversaries are not that they themselves have weaknesses. In fact, with his campaign of maximum pressure on Iran, Donald Trump put the most pressure on Iran that he has ever put under any administration, both economically and militarily… they were finished.”
Click here to watch more of Brennan’s interview with Turner.
