Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky argued Sunday that the war with Iran has “weakened” the United States.
“The U.S. has been significantly weakened by the war with Iran,” the congressman wrote in a Sunday post on X.
“This administration depleted our missile defenses, drained our oil reserves, sacrificed our men & women, inflated the price of consumer goods, increased our debt, and neglected our domestic needs…” he continued, adding, “all for Israel.”
Some parts of Massie’s criticism align with publicly reported effects of the conflict. The Energy Department authorized the release of 172 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, while news reports and congressional spending measures have pointed to heavy demand for U.S. missile-defense systems and billions of dollars in additional defense funding. His broader assertion that the United States has been “significantly weakened” is a political judgment.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN THOMAS MASSIE SUGGESTS OBAMACARE COULD NOW BE LABELED ‘TRUMPCARE’
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House early on Monday morning to request a comment.
Massie, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 13 years, lost the May Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District to President Donald Trump-backed challenger, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
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In a Friday post on X, Massie accused Trump of shifting toward a neoconservative foreign policy, writing, “Why did he flip to neocon?”
Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent, who quit earlier this year due to his opposition to the Iran war, has been calling for President Trump to withdraw U.S. forces from the region.
EX-COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL JOE KENT CONTINUES CALLING FOR US MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM MIDDLE EAST
“The Israelis know they can’t fight this war without the U.S., so their goal is to get us on board with more strikes, ground troops, etc., in the hopes that American causalities will sway public opinion enough to escalate into a chaotic, drawn-out war,” Kent wrote in part of a Sunday post on X. “Our only viable option is to leave now—President Trump should use this pause in fighting to get our troops out & use quiet economic diplomacy to reopen the SOH & BAM.”
The Trump administration has defended the military campaign as necessary to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, cripple its navy, sever its support for terrorist proxies and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The White House has also credited what it called “decisive American strength” with producing an agreement intended to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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