Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy said during a Sunday interview on “Face the Nation” that the United States should stay the course in Iran even as most Americans want the war to end.
Pulling the U.S. out of Iran would be a “huge, huge mistake,” Kennedy told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan. Kennedy had, however, criticized Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over a $67 billion request to fund the war during a Senate hearing Tuesday.
Brennan asked Kennedy whether the administration agreed to give him a “classified, detailed briefing” on Iran. The senator did not elaborate, instead faulting the White House’s public case for the war.
“I support the president in Iran. We all need to do a better job messaging,” Kennedy said. Trump, however, “exists loudly” and “is not always disciplined in his messaging,” he added.
“I’m not saying he should stop talking,” Kennedy said. He called for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, and Hegseth to “[go] out there, either in a speech or in a long press conference, to explain what’s going on in Iran, why we went in, why we’re still there.”
Kennedy then directed his attention to Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and the Democrats who want the U.S. to withdraw from the Iran conflict.
“Bernie wants to just come home. He wants to turn out the lights, make sure the cat’s inside, and go to bed,” Kennedy said. “That would be a huge, huge mistake.”
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Brennan then told Kennedy that 67 percent of Americans think the U.S. should “end the conflict now,” a reference to a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted July 22 – 24, 2026. Another 33 percent want the U.S. to “continue conflict until Iran gives up more.”
“I think we ought to tighten the sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil,” Kennedy said. “I think we ought to continue the blockade and starve them out. I think we ought to bomb Pickaxe Mountain [an underground Iranian nuclear facility] and try to reach what’s underneath it.”
Kennedy was more skeptical about resuming daily attacks on Iran, which he doubted would influence the opinions of the “more than mildly insane” Iranian leaders.
“The president likes the daily attacks,” Kennedy said. “He believes that sometimes you have to kill a few chickens to scare the monkeys. I don’t think that’s going to work with the Iranian leadership. These people are more than mildly insane. It’s like dealing with son of Sam or Charles Manson.”
The U.S. on Friday paused its bombing campaign after 13 consecutive days of strikes, The Associated Press reported.
The U.S., however, should remain involved in the conflict as long as it can absorb the economic cost, Kennedy argued.
“But I don’t think we ought to just cut and run,” he said. “If we can stand the pain of the rising cost of energy, we need to stay the course, at least for a few more months. I also don’t think we need to send in troops. That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.”
(DCNF)