ICYMI: Gallego Joins the Daily Beast Podcast; Slams Trump’s handling of the Iran War, Discusses his Social Media Ban

WASHINGTON – Last Friday, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) joined the Daily Beast Podcast with host Joanna Coles to discuss the Iran War and parallels he sees with his service in Iraq and the Trump Administration’s latest blunders. They also discussed his recent bill to require parental approval for kids under the age of 16 to use social media. See coverage below: On his proposed legislation to put parents back in control of their kid’s social media: “Some of the most important developmental time in a kid’s life, especially teenagers’ lives, are below the age of 16. So, let’s give these kids a fighting chance and let’s give that power to the parent who doesn’t necessarily want to be the bad guy but now has a real reason to be that break. “I am sure that you also saw I have this cell phone ban planned where public schools that receive federal dollars need to come up with a cellphone ban within a year in order for them to continue to have support. What does that cellphone ban look like? It could be very different for every parent, every school. The fact is we’ve seen studies that show the schools that have cellphone bans have better outcomes, less violence, higher self-esteem, and better grades.” On politicians making the same mistakes as they did in the Iraq War: “I am seeing a lot of other Ruben Gallegos that are going to be put through a stupid, dumb, illegal war. We are going to live with another generation of American boys and girls that are going to have carry this burden of bad leadership. That’s what got me to Iraq, it was bad leadership that chose to go to war in Iraq. It was bad decision making on the conduct of the war and the leadership to get us out of there wasn’t there. Does that sound familiar to everyone here?” On the calls to put American boots on the ground in Iran: “I care about United States interests first and I am not going to sacrifice US soldiers, sailors, marines, young men and women for Iranian freedom and sovereignty. I would gladly help them out through diplomatic efforts and anything below the threshold of war, but I am not going to commit men and women to regime change again. We’ve tried this in the middle east and that’s how I ended up losing my best friend in a war and dealing with the problems of PTSD. We were out there being freedom fighters for other people and other countries that should’ve done it on their own.” On questions about Trump’s health: “He’s an overweight 80-year-old man who does not eat well. It’s very natural for things to be going bad, and it’s also very natural for us as a country to be asking who is actually making some of these decisions? All of these things where very legitimate questions under Biden should also be asked right now and pushed under this administration.