Warner blasts Trump’s ‘war of choice’
President Trump must be held accountable for the war in Iran, Sen. Mark Warner told the crowd at a re-election campaign event in Tysons on April 8, where he was joined by Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Rep. James Walkinshaw.
As the vice chair of the Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence, Warner said, it was clear that “there was no immediate threat to America. It was a war of choice.”
A costly war
“Forty days in, where are we? There’s been no regime change,” he said. “The crowd that’s now in the leadership of Iran is more radical than the previous one,” while Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz and still has 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium.
“We are literally running out of interceptor missiles. We are spending $2.4 million to shoot down an Iranian drone,” he said. Meanwhile, Trump rejected Ukraine’s offer to provide its anti-drone technology at a cost of $5,000 apiece.
So far, the war has cost the lives of 13 American soldiers, with another 300 injured. The economic impact is not only the $4 a gallon cost of gas; it’s now $7 a gallon for diesel, which is used for everything that’s shipped in America, he said.
“This energy crisis, beyond the immediate cost of the war, is going to hit Americans in their pocketbooks for months, and probably for years to come – all because of the war of choice, because the president didn’t have the courage or the willingness to go to the American people or Congress,” Warner said.
“The president says we don’t have any money for daycare, but he wants another $200 billion for this war and a defense budget of $1.5 trillion,” he said.
Meanwhile, 350,000 Virginians will be affected by the Medicaid cuts that are coming right after the election, he said. “We’re never going to be able to control healthcare costs until we have universal healthcare.”
Regulate AI
Warner supports artificial intelligence in the long term. “I think it will bring innovation; it will push productivity. But I’ve become hair on fire freaked out about what it’s going to do short term, in terms of job dislocation,” he said. The unemployment rate among recent college graduates is already at 9 percent, and is likely to rise soon to 25 or 30 percent, he said.
“We’ve got to make sure that these AI tech lords pay their fair share,” he said. “That starts with making sure that data centers pay their fair share.”
“If we don’t get it right and all the benefits go to folks at the top, the promise of artificial intelligence in terms of prosperity and innovation will be shut down,” he warned.
Warner has served in the Senate since 2009 and previously served as governor of Virginia (2002-06). He has three opponents in the Democratic Primary.
Chaos and corruption
Walkinshaw (D-11th District) said the Trump administration is characterized by chaos, rising costs, and corruption.
“We have a president of the United States threatening to annihilate 91 million people. That would be the most significant genocide and war crime in history,” Walkinshaw said.
“Republicans are saying we are so broke we have to cut a trillion dollars from healthcare; we’re so broke we can’t afford to help Americans meet their day-to-day needs,” he said, “but somehow, we’re spending billions of dollars to drop bombs in the Middle East.”
“This is the most corrupt administration in history. The Trump family is at least a billion dollars wealthier today than when he was elected,” he said. “The Oval Office has been sold to the highest bidder.”
“We are lucky to have Sen. Warner, who has taken on this administration every single day,” Walkinshaw said. “Nobody works harder and smarter to fight and win than Mark Warner.”