Fox’s Mark Levin Blasts Top Trump DOD Pick: ‘He’s Undermining National Security’
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Fox News’ Mark Levin suggested that Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as under secretary of defense for policy, was “undermining national security” with his position on Iran’s nuclear program on Sunday night.
Levin’s criticism of Colby came after right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk commented that “The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate” before accusing Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) of “working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD.”
“Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD,” added Kirk. “Why is Tom Cotton doing this?”
According to Jewish Insider, some Republican senators have concerns about Colby’s views about Iran. In 2010, Colby wrote a piece for Foreign Policy in which he wrote that “containing a nuclear Iran is an eminently plausible and practical objective.”
From the Insider report:
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed to Jewish Insider that there are issues among committee members with Colby’s nomination.
“There are concerns, there are concerns,” Wicker told JI, echoing comments he’s made to other media outlets in recent days.
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), a defense hawk who met recently with Colby, told JI he’s “aware of” Colby’s past comments calling for U.S. retrenchment in the Middle East. He declined to discuss his meeting with Colby beyond describing it as “good.”
Pressed on whether Colby’s views on the Middle East had come up in that conversation, Rounds replied: “We’ll continue to do our research, but we had a good meeting.”
One Republican senator familiar with the situation told JI that the White House was aware of Colby’s GOP dissenters on the Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over Colby’s nomination.
Responding to Kirk on Sunday night, Levin took the side of the skeptical GOP lawmakers.
“Sorry Charlie. It is the unequivocal position of President Trump and every sane person that Iran must not get nukes,” wrote Levin. “If this guy has no problem with it, he’s the problem not Cotton. He’s out of sync not Cotton. He’s undermining national security not Cotton.”
Even after Vice President JD Vance weighed in on the debate by asserting that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years,” Levin continued to express his skepticism.
“I’ll dig into this on my radio show tomorrow,” promised Levin in reply to Vance. “Hopefully Colby has changed his position and is now consistent with President Trump on Iran and nukes.
Levin went on to share several articles and White House fact sheet emphasizing Trump’s hawkish posture toward Iran.
