Senator Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia Republican, repeatedly sidestepped and refused to respond when pressed during an interview with Fox News on Sunday about whether she supported Congress’s bipartisan decision to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Loeffler, along with Republican Senator David Perdue, is in the middle of a tense run-off campaign in Georgia that will determine whether Republicans or Democrats will tightly control the Senate at the 117th Congress. The election will be held on January 5, with polls showing that the two Senate contests are hotly contested, with neither candidate having a clear advantage.
Trump campaigned for Loeffler and Perdue, but none of the senators appeared on Friday’s vote to overturn Trump’s veto on the NDAA on December 23. Perdue’s absence was expected as he was quarantined with his wife due to possible exposure to COVID-19.
During an interview with Fox News Sunday hosted by anchor Bret Baier, Loeffler avoided responding when confronted about his personal views on the NDAA and Trump’s veto. Loeffler and Perdue voted in favor of the NDAA when it was approved with broad bipartisan support in early December.
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“Why didn’t you vote to overturn the veto on Friday in the Senate?” Baier asked Loeffler, noting that many analysts believed Trump had put her in a difficult position. Finding out the president’s base is considered crucial for her to defeat Democratic opponent Raphael Warnock.
“Well, look, I was with the president 100 percent of the time. He’s putting America first. He fought for our men and women in the army,” replied the senator, but she didn’t answer Baier’s question. She then turned to publicize her campaign in Georgia and criticized the Democrats and Warnock.
“The campaign is important, and you are saying how important the January 5 election is, but obviously Georgia is a great state of defense. Ex-current and former military personnel here. Defense matters here. How would you have voted if had you voted for that overlapping veto? ” Baier asked.
Loeffler noted that he voted in favor of the original legislation, but did not say how he would have voted on the annulment. “I don’t know. I was here in Georgia working across the state,” she said.
Baier again forced the question. “Okay, but would you have upheld the president’s veto of the NDAA?”
Loeffler again did not answer the question. “See, what is at stake here are our military and our freedoms. That is what is in the vote now,” she said.
“I will not be late, but that is not a yes or no, whether you would support the veto or not,” summarized Baier.
“That’s right,” replied Loeffler.
Newsweek contacted a Loeffler press representative for further comments, but did not receive an immediate response.
Trump had long threatened to veto the NDAA, despite the legislation being supported by a significant bipartisan majority of lawmakers. The president opposed the legislation – which will keep the military funded and increase troops – in part because it includes a clause that orders the Pentagon to rename military bases with the name of Confederate military figures.
The Confederacy was a failed rebellion against the United States in the 1860s that sought to separate the United States during the Civil War in order to preserve slavery in the south. Confederate leaders were traitors, and many lawmakers and ordinary Americans questioned why the United States military has bases with the names of some of them.
Trump also wanted lawmakers to include a measure to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which technology companies used as legal protection. Although several Democrats and Republicans criticized section 230, lawmakers were not very interested in addressing the issue unrelated to the military spending side.
Trump’s veto override was expected, as the NDAA passed with vip-proof bipartisan majorities. While some Republican lawmakers chose not to vote to override the president’s veto, the effort to do so still met with success in the House and Senate last week, meaning the legislation passed despite Trump’s efforts to derail it. over there.