Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) straight-up admitted on Sunday morning that she was outright refusing to give a direct answer when pressed to reveal whether she would have voted to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the most recent National Defense Authorization Act.
Last Friday, the Senate overwhelmingly voted 81 to 13 to override the president’s veto of the annual defense bill, with most Republicans joining Democrats in what became the first of Trump’s vetoes to be overridden.
The president had refused to sign the NDAA because it contained provisions to strip the names of bases named for Confederate generals and didn’t include a repeal of Section 230, a law providing immunity to social media companies for posting third-party content.
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Loeffler, along with fellow Republican Georgia Sen. David Perdue, did not take part in the Friday vote, citing their campaign activities in the upcoming Senate runoff elections. During her interview on Fox News Sunday, guest host Bret Baier repeatedly pushed the conservative lawmaker to give her position on the bill—only for Loeffler to refuse to give a straight answer.
“A lot of people look at this race and think President Trump may have put you and Senator Perdue in a box first when he threatened to not sign the COVID stimulus and government funding and then he signed it,” Baier noted. “Then by, after that, demanding or calling for additional direct payments, which you then supported, and then by vetoing the national defense bill, which you originally supported and voted for. Why didn’t you vote on the veto override Friday in the Senate?”
Loeffler, who has closely tacked to the president throughout the election, replied that she has “stood with the president 100 percent of the time” before praising Trump standing for the military. She also pointed out that she has been campaigning recently, prompting Baier to push back.
“Understanding that campaigning is important and you’re saying how important this election is on Jan. 5 but obviously Georgia is a big defense state, current and former military here, defense business here,” he added. “How would you have voted had you voted on that veto override?”
Once again, Loeffler avoided the question, merely saying she supported the NDAA initially before reiterating that she’s been in Georgia campaigning. At the same time, the senator accused Democrats of changing the original bill, saying she didn’t know how she would have voted.
She also blasted her Democratic opponent Rev. Raphael Warnock by misrepresenting a sermon he made about not serving two masters, falsely claiming he “attacked” the military.
“But you would have sustained the veto on the NDAA?” Baier pressed again.
“Look, what's at stake here is our military and our freedoms," Loeffler pivoted once more. “Those are what's on the ballot right now. And I'm the daughter and granddaughter of veterans… But if we don't win on Jan. 5, our military will be defunded and worse.”
“I won't belabor it but that’s not a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ whether you would sustain the veto or not,” the Fox News anchor sighed.
“That’s right,” a shameless Loeffler smiled.
