Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) gave high marks to the “Make America Safe” opening day of the Republican National Convention, during his appearance on Tuesday’s edition of Breitbart News Daily with SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon.
“I’ve never seen Giuliani more animated,” Zinke said. “He was pointed and direct, which I enjoyed. General Flynn, I think, was also brilliant in the outline of it. I think if you were listening, what you walked away with is, we all rise and fall on the same tide. It was directed towards America – not necessarily Republicans, Democrats, but America. We have to be Americans first, and that point was made over, and over, and over again.”
“What I see is the fabric of America stretched. There’s a lot of diversity – and division – within our country,” he observed. “All of a sudden, you have black, and white, and Hispanic, and Republican, and Democrat, and it’s tearing the fabric of America. In order to repair that, we have to be American first. We have to put America first. That means our domestic policies, as well as our foreign policies.”
On the latter topic, Zinke described current U.S. foreign policy as “failed,” but “fixable.”
“It’s only fixable if we take resolve, if we lead from the front,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we’ll be the policeman for the world, but with our allies, in a common purpose of stability, promoting economic prosperity, that’s what America has always done. But we have lost that role with a policy of retreat, and it has consequences.”
In his own speech at the RNC, Zinke said he spoke from both his perspective as a former Navy SEAL commander, and as a father whose daughter married a SEAL and went into the Navy herself as a diver.
“I’ve seen the horror of war,” he said. “I’m probably the last person who wants to go to war, because I’ve seen it, up front. But there’s times we must go to war, and when we do, let’s go to war to win. That means give the troops the right equipment, right rules of engagement, right training to win decisively on the field of battle. They deserve that.”
“They also deserve to know the Commander-in-Chief has their back,” he continued. “And in the case of Benghazi, they were more concerned about inventing a narrative about a cover story, then they are about sending forces to aid our troops. And that caused a loss of life.”
“We’re more concerned, in many cases, about collateral damage than we are about getting our guys who are in contact out of trouble,” Zike charged. “We’re more concerned about sending leaflets on convoys with ISIS, and letting the drivers, who aren’t innocent victims – giving notice to the drivers so they can remove and exit from their trucks. This is outrageous, and what it does is cause consequences, in that we’re perceived as weak. Our allies don’t trust us, and our enemies don’t fear us.”
He said another consequence was “a rising Persia, at the expense of our allies.”
“We’re not doing anything about Iran launching ICBMS. We’re not doing anything about Iran over-producing heavy water. Oh, but we are. We’re buying it from them,” he said sarcastically, also mocking the spectacle of Secretary of State John Kerry reduced to being a pitch man for Iranian business interests to skeptical European investors.
“They’re still funding Hamas. They’re still funding Hezbollah. They’re still building missiles to destroy Israel, and ourselves. And we’re funding them?” Zinke marveled. “It’s outrageous.”
“America’s so upset right now, because we feel like the American Dream is getting further and further away. We have to work longer hours. Both wife and husband have to work. A lot of single moms out there with multiple jobs, I mean the kids don’t have anyone when they get home from school, because Mom’s working three jobs. So there’s a lot of angst, and there’s a lot of uncertainty that tomorrow’s going to be a better day,” he said.
Zinke feared that “as she has shown in Libya,” Hillary Clinton will “gut” the armed forces.
“The force will be enormously frustrated. It will continue on a social agenda, rather than mission capability,” he predicted. “I think it’ll be a disaster with Hillary Clinton.”
He recalled being in Tuzla during the infamous “Tuzla Dash” incident, when Clinton lied about coming under sniper fire. “She has no problem lying,” Zinke said. “I think you need a trustworthy Commander-in-Chief that will do what he or she says.”
Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
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