See below for reactions by Virginia elected officials and candidates to Iran’s attack on Israel last night. I’ll add more as I see them. By the way, if you’re running for Congress, you really SHOULD be weighing in on major events like this, for starters so that voters know how you’d respond in a crisis, how your mind works, etc.
Sen. Mark Warner says “Tonight’s response to Iran’s reckless attacks demonstrates the continued commitment by the U.S. to Israel’s security. We stand with the Israeli people and support Israel’s right to defend itself while seeking to avoid further escalation in an already volatile region.”
Sen. Tim Kaine: “Congress has got to finally pass this supplemental bill that the Senate passed two months ago. If we can do that, we can provide aid for Israel to defend itself against Iran and for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. But the key is defense. We don’t need Israel going on more offense right now against Iran, because you know how tensions are already escalating…the last thing we need is more escalation. So we stood with Israel to help them knock down the attacks from Iranian soil on Israel. Now is the time for deescalation. That means getting to this hostage deal, cease fire that will promote humanitarian aid and a deescalation in the region….Trump made one of the most disastrous decisions in the history of US foreign policy, it’s made the region dramatically less safe. And I’ve got friends all over the region including in Israel who point that out. So sure, he’s going to go out and mouth off just like he’s mouthing off about being proud that he destroyed Roe v Wade. Let him keep mouthing off. I think this is a time where Americans are glad that there’s somebody in office who is careful and cautious, who has a great team around him, and isn’t doing the tough work of diplomacy by whatever stray thought crosses his mind at any point in time…Now what we need to see from Hamas is a hostage release. We’ve got to have a hostage release and a cease fire. Hamas, it appears they don’t want to do the hostage release. Every time we get close, Hamas sort of backs away or throws up some new obstacle, and I have my intution about what may be going on with this. But hopefully the globe and regional leaders like Egypt and Qatar will see the escalation of this weekend as we got to put pressure on hostage release for cease fire, more humanitarian aid into Gaza, that will then lead to deescalation in the region and the opening of a discussion about a future for Palestinian autonomy…My immediate concern is, I hope Israel heeds President Biden’s advice and doesn’t decide to further escalate the situation. I was so worried when Israel took the strike in Damascus. I believe they took the strike against people that had maybe had some planning role in October 7. So I get those would be people that Israel would want to go after. But the timing seemed very, very unfortunate to me because we already have a raging brushfire with escalation throughout the region…I hope Prime Minister Netanyahu would listen to President Biden…and not make the matter worse.”
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA07) says, in response to Iran’s attack on Israel: “@SpeakerJohnson must bring the U.S. Senate-passed bipartisan national security supplemental for an immediate vote in the U.S. House”
VA07 Dem candidate, former Del. Elizabeth Guzman, weighs in re: Iran’s attack on Israel: “I stand with our party’s leadership in the House, condemning Iran’s hostility to peace and total disregard for stability in the region”
VA10 Dem candidate David Reid weighs in on Iran’s attack against Israel, says “We must remain steadfast in our support for Israel, the Israeli people, and we condemn Iran for trying to draw the United States into a larger regional conflict.”
VA07 Dem candidate Eugene Vindman weighs in on Iran’s attack against Israel, says “We must stand with Israel as it faces an attack from Iran and its proxies. ”
VA10 Democratic candidate, former VA Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn says “We must stand by our ally…Am yisrael chai!”
Youngkin tweets in support of Israel, while his party’s leader (Trump) and the Republican Speaker are pro-Putin, who is a close ally of Iran’s, and also holding up an aid package to Ukraine, Israel, etc. Also, of course, Republicans killed the nuclear nonproliferation deal with Iran, so now Iran is SUPER close to building nuclear bombs.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA11) calls for Speaker Johnson to stop “playing politics” and bring the “bipartisan national security supplemental package” to the floor, ASAP.
The abysmally bad (amoral and slimy, among other things) Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA02) says we need to support Israel, but her party’s been blocking a major aid package for like 6 months now, so…whatever.
LG Winsome Sears says “Please pray for Israel” (while her party has blocked an aid package for like 6 months now)
The relentlessly odious, irresponsible Jason Miyares is all but SALIVATING at the prospect of a full-fledged war, chaos and bloodshed in the Middle East. This guy should NOT be in a position of authority of any kind.
Insurrectionist/extremist VA05 candidate John McGuire (R) says “No more playing politics. Support Israel now!,” as HIS PARTY has “played politics” on a massive aid package for 6 months now. McGuire’s primary opponent, christofascist Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05), says “Pray for Israel” and wildly lies about House Republicans failing to pass an aid package.
VA10 Dem candidate, Del. Dan Helmer: “Tonight’s attack by Iran reinforces the need for American leadership and for us to stand with our allies. The House must approve the bill to send aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan immediately.”
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