MAGA Senator Embarrassingly Backtracks on Strike Comments
“Look, I was wrong,” says Sen. Roger Marshall, who boasted last year about the success of U.S. airstrikes on Iran.
A MAGA senator who bragged last June that Donald Trump’s airstrikes had set Iran’s nuclear program back by years was forced to eat his words live on CNN to keep up with the latest messaging from the White House.
Host Kaitlan Collins confronted Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas with comments he made last year about the success of airstrikes the president ordered on the Islamic regime’s key nuclear sites.
Referring to the deaths of seven U.S. troops in the Middle East this month as a result of Trump’s war on Iran, as well as Tuesday’s revelation that 140 service members had been wounded so far, Collins said to Marshall, “As you look at that, I think some people ask, why is this happening? Why, why are we at war with Iran right now?”
Donald Trump, wearing a white baseball cap, salutes as the remains of six U.S. soldiers are returned to the United States.
Nathan Howard/REUTERS
Republicans have cited an imminent threat from Iran’s nuclear program as one of the reasons for the joint U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign that began on Feb. 28.
Collins then played a clip from an appearance Marshall made on Fox News in June after the president bombed several Iranian nuclear sites, “I think it will take years for Iran to restart their nuclear program. It’s shocking how much damage we did to their facilities,” Marshall said, echoing the White House talking point at the time.
“You said there that you thought it could be years before they could restart their nuclear program,” Collins said to Marshall. “Did you see intelligence that changed your mind now on that?”
Get the best of The Beast delivered right to your inbox
By clicking “SUBSCRIBE” you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
“Look, I was wrong,” Marshall said, desperate to toe the Republican Party line on the messaging surrounding the president’s war.
“They were restarting their nuclear program, the reports out of the White House that they were actually starting their nuclear program,” he continued, before acknowledging that there is a cost to war.
“There is a price to pay for freedom. Unfortunately. And I appreciate soldiers being willing to do that.”
Marshall contradicted comments he made months earlier about Iran's nuclear program.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
The White House has offered up several reasons for the president’s strikes on Iran in addition to preventing the country from obtaining nuclear weapons, including combating terrorism, to counter a preemptive attack, to aid Israel, to enable regime change, and because Iran “just wanted to practice evil.”
The U.S. struck three nuclear sites in Iran—located at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan—last June, which the Trump administration claimed “obliterated” the uranium enrichment facility at Fordow.
The president’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who led negotiations with Tehran prior to the most recent strikes, told CNBC on Tuesday that Iran was “probably a week away” from having nuclear bomb-making material. The president had previously claimed that Iran was developing missiles that could reach the U.S.
At least some of those claims are not backed by U.S. intelligence, insiders told CNN, pointing to a 2025 assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency that said Iran could develop intercontinental ballistic missiles by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that at the time of the strikes, Iran was not currently enriching uranium, but said, “They’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”
A source who spoke to CNN said that intelligence suggests Iran is currently attempting to restore its enrichment capability, but that it would take considerably longer than a week for the country to do so. In addition, the source noted that this work was taking place in sites unlikely to be impacted by strikes.
President Donald Trump cited the threat of Iran's nuclear program as a reason for his strikes on the country.
Kevin Lamarque/REUTERS
The U.S. Intelligence Community’s 2025 threat assessment observed that Iran was not constructing a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the strikes, had not reauthorized the weapons program that was suspended in 2003.
“Danger is not the same as imminence,“ a report from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft noted on Wednesday. “The public record before this war showed an advanced threshold capability, not a demonstrated rush to build a bomb.”
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.
Sign in or create an account
Login dialog
Loading comments…