Sen. Ron Johnson told Newsmax on Tuesday that Democrats' outrage over joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes on Iran is "simply galling," arguing the party's past weakness helped create the very threat that it now decries.
Appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Johnson said Democrats' backlash ignores years of what he described as appeasement under Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
"What's so galling about the Democrat reaction here is they create these problems by their weakness," he said.
Johnson accused the Obama and Biden administrations of "coddling" Iran and pumping "billions of dollars into the Iranian economy and into their military," which strengthened the regime rather than eroding it.
He also tied past Democrat foreign policy decisions to current domestic security concerns.
"They opened up the borders, making us vulnerable, potentially, to [Iranian] sleeper cells," Johnson said, arguing Democrats have failed to prioritize American safety.
"And then they do nothing, absolutely nothing, to help us," he continued. "In fact, they do everything they can to make it more difficult for President [Donald] Trump and Republicans to clean up their messes. It's simply galling."
The Wisconsin Republican's sharp criticism of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., came in response to comments Schumer made last year about Trump's negotiations with Iran's leadership.
Schumer had questioned Trump's approach and demanded greater transparency surrounding discussions with Tehran.
To Johnson, that criticism reflects what he called a pattern of partisan opposition from the Democrats.
"They know what they oppose," he said. "They oppose Donald Trump. If he's for it, they're against it."
"If he's against it, they're for it," Johnson added. "They're complete hypocrites."
He also dismissed past Democrat warnings to Iran as empty rhetoric.
"Remember how Biden was going to deal with the nuclear threat?" Johnson said. "Same thing as [former Vice President] Kamala Harris. Obama was talking about serious consequences — there were never any consequences."
Iran's leaders "understood that," the senator said, allowing them to continue advancing their nuclear ambitions until Trump eventually intervened.
Johnson further argued that weakening Iran's ruling regime is "unquestionably good," calling the ayatollahs "a menace" and describing their rule as brutal.
"They executed 32,000 Iranians," he said, adding that the regime operates "barbaric prisons" for political opponents and threatens stability in the Middle East.
"The Iranian people are long suffering," Johnson said. "They want to be more westward leaning. They've been held under the thumb of this brutal, brutal regime. The sooner it's gone, the better."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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