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Sen. Tom Cotton on Support for Trump: He Can 'Make the Case for Himself'

Sen. Tom Cotton on Support for Trump: He Can 'Make the Case for Himself'
Sen. Tom Cotton (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

By    |   Sunday, 03 July 2016 10:24 AM EDT

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton ducked an endorsement of Donald Trump in an interview aired Sunday, bristling that his support for the presumptive nominee sounds unenthusiastic.

In an interview with "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd noted the Arkansas senator "didn't even mention" Trump's name in a speech earlier in the weekend.

"You laid out a strong case against [Hillary Clinton] but you did not make a case for him," Todd pressed. "Make a case for him."

"Donald Trump can ultimately make the case for himself," Cotton shot back. "But Donald Trump, like most Americans, like most Republicans, believe in protecting America's core national interests.

"He believes as do I, as do most Americans, that we aren't doing enough to take the fight to the Islamic State, that the intervention in Libya was ill-considered and slapdash at the time. And we're living with the consequences of it now. That we have to get tougher with intelligence to stop islamic terrorism. On those matters, our party is largely united. And I say we have the vast majority of Americans with us."

Todd pressed that "You don't come across as an enthusiastic Trump supporter, is that fair?"

"Maybe I don't just demonstrate enthusiasm much in life, Chuck, especially in such dangerous times as this," Cotton replied.

Cotton also declared he was against withdrawing troops from South Korea and Japan — suggestions Trump has made — and that "as a senator I play an important role in crafting foreign policy."

"There is talk in the campaign for instance about the troop presence in Japan and South Korea that's not unprecedented," he said. "Jimmy Carter proposed withdrawing the troops from South Korea. He was stopped by the United States Congress."

"We play an important role and I'll continue to play that role whoever is president," he said.


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Republican Sen. Tom Cotton ducked an endorsement of Donald Trump in an interview aired Sunday, bristling that his support for the presumptive nomineesounds unenthusiastic.
tom cotton, unenthusiastic, support, trump, make case
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2016-24-03
Sunday, 03 July 2016 10:24 AM
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