Washington (April 16, 2026) – Senator John Kennedy (R-La.) explained why he believes the United States was right to strike Iran and halt its ability to develop a nuclear weapon in a speech on the U.S. Senate floor.
Key excerpts of the speech are below.
“I can tell you why I think we did the right thing by going into Iran. First of all, the people of Iran are wonderful people. I am not talking about the people; I am talking about their government, which is run by their Supreme Leader. Now, the old Supreme Leader is now as dead as Woodrow Wilson, but they have a new Supreme Leader. It is the son of the old Supreme Leader, and he is just as crazy as his daddy was.”
. . .
“They are trying to get a nuclear weapon. This isn’t like China having a nuclear weapon or Russia or India or Pakistan. Let me ask you a question. Would you give Charles Manson a nuclear weapon? That is what we are talking about here. Charles Manson is also as dead as Woodrow Wilson. But would you give a Charles Manson-type person a nuclear weapon? No. And that is why we can’t let the Supreme Leader and his minions in Iran have them.”
. . .
“We hit Iran so hard, they are coughing up bones: the public sector, but also the private sector today in Iran. It doesn’t give me any joy to say this. We had no choice. I don’t know how they are standing. They are held together with duct tape and spit. . . . But the fact of the matter is that if you think the theocracy run by the Government of Iran—the Charlie Manson—is dangerous to the world, and I do, then the world is a much safer place today, and that is just a fact. That is a fact.
“It is going to be a long time before the Charlie Mansons can rebuild, and it is going to be a hell of a long time before the new Supreme Leader is going to get a nuclear weapon.”
