Sen. Ron Johnson Kind Of Regrets GOPers Sending Iran Letter

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Enveloped by political gridlock, President Barack Obama is reaching out to rank-and-file Republicans, hosting G... FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Enveloped by political gridlock, President Barack Obama is reaching out to rank-and-file Republicans, hosting GOP senators for dinner at the White House Wednesday night and then visiting Capitol Hill next week for separate meetings with Senate and House Republicans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested some regret that 47 Republican senators, Johnson included, sent a letter to Iran’s leaders aiming to scuttle nuclear weapons negotiations with the United States.

“I suppose the only regret is who it’s addressed to,” Johnson said Friday, according to Bloomberg. “But the content of the letter, none whatsoever.”

Johnson, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was responding to a question about what he thought of the content of the letter and whether Republicans regret crafting and sending it. The letter, led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) received a serious amount of blowback. It was seen by many as meant to undermine the Obama administration’s attempts to slow down Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

“This is an important deal, it’s a deal that rises to the level of a treaty that really should be evaluated and judged by the American people through their representatives,” Johnson said. “That treaty should come to Congress for an up-or-down vote.”

Johnson is likely to face a strong challenge from former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), whom Johnson defeated in 2010. Democrats were quick to jab Johnson over his Iran comments at Bloomberg.

“You don’t get do-overs with sensitive foreign policy negotiations and Ron Johnson’s ‘oopsies’ moment on the reckless letter he signed to Iran is just the latest example of how he puts partisanship and the Tea Party before common sense,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee press secretary Sadie Weiner said in response.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. I’m guessing the baggers thought this was a great idea until it made them look like traitorous bagger idiots.

  2. Billy Kristol assured them that they’d be greeted as liberators.

  3. I would have regrets too knowing he will be in history books forever as being one of the 47 senators who set a precedent on sending letters to foreign countries telling them not to trust the POTUS on foreign diplomacy

  4. Sure hope Russ can put this clown back in it’s box. I have no idea if he even showed up in the Senate in the past six years. And then he lets Bill Kristol and some gung ho war veteran pull him by the nose into signing an idiotic, anti American, letter to the Iranians?

  5. Wisconsin also had the wisdom to elect Joe McCarthy to the Senate.

    And now their Gov. Walker is a leading candidate for President.

    What idiocy!

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

110 more replies

Participants

Avatar for the_scarlet_pimpernel Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for ajm Avatar for looby Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for ncsteve Avatar for blue_grit Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for jinx_tpm Avatar for mantan Avatar for frankly_my_dear Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for bigdaddydrj Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for emilianoelmexicano Avatar for ryokyo Avatar for whateverdude Avatar for bckrd1 Avatar for 62fender Avatar for jacksonhts

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: