LAS VEGAS — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic primary contender for the White House, stood by her “no first strike” nuclear policy she advocated for in this week’s debate after House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney took her to task about it on Twitter Friday.
Cheney tweeted, “Key question for Elizabeth Warren @ewarren today – which American cities and how many American citizens are you willing to sacrifice with your policy of forcing the US to absorb a nuclear attack before we can strike back?”
During a campaign stop at Green Valley High School, the Washington Examiner asked Warren about Cheney’s tweet, and she replied that her “no strike first” policy “makes America safer and makes the world safer. America is not going to use nuclear weapons. Our whole notion of mutually assured destruction was to say. If you come at us, then we will respond and that’s how we behaved throughout the Cold War.”
She continued, “By changing that and saying, ‘Gee, The United States might be willing to use nuclear weapons first,’ we increase the odds that there will be a miscalculation and that someone will believe that we could use nuclear weapons or send them in their direction, when that is not the case. This is about trying to keep America safe. We’re not about playing politics.”
Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont and fellow Democratic 2020 candidate, came to the defense of Warren, tweeting at Cheney, saying, “Taking national security advice from a Cheney has already caused irreparable damage to our country. We don’t need any more, thanks.”
Cheney fired back at Sanders. “No surprise commie @BernieSanders, who honeymooned in Soviet Union, is ok with U.S. getting attacked first. (On a side note, he seems to have daddy issues…with my daddy.)”
