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U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Kudlow to discuss America’s relationship with Iran, the Israel-Hamas war, and more. See below for highlights and watch the full interview on YouTube and Rumble.

On the naivete of thinking the U.S. can broker a deal with terrorists:

“These are groups that openly say they want the destruction of the Jewish state. If you ask the Iranians, they have the same goal as Hamas, [which is to] drive every Jew out of the region and then set up a fundamentalist Islamic Palestinian state that reaches from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River. That’s what they repeatedly say. That’s what they were founded on. But we got people over here saying, that’s what they say, but that’s not what they really want, and we can cut a deal with these guys, and we can work it out. They continue to play us. 

“There is no Hamas as we know it today without Iran. And whether Iran knew that they were going to go last Saturday, or that they were going to use paragliders, all of that is irrelevant. What is true is that all the things they use to carry out this butchery, all of it, they would not have had it had it not been for support from Iran. We need to start waking up. 

“We can continue to project all the Western attributes we want on Iran, on Hamas, and on groups like that, but these guys are ideological. They’re ideological psychopaths, and they’re savages. They would, if they could, not just kill every Jew they could get their hands on, they would kill Americans in the process as well. In fact, they openly call for that. We should start believing these people in what they say.”

On whether the Biden Administration is still pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran:

“There’s no doubt they are. They’ve got people that do that. It’s a separate office, including a guy that was running it that we increasingly have [reason to believe] was an asset for Iranian propaganda, and was actually sharing information with them. I think we’ll learn more as that investigation unfolds about the guy they put in charge of all this. 

“I hope they’re messaging Iran, and I hope they’re telling Iran, if any Americans are attacked in the region by Iran or one of your proxies, we’re going to consider it an attack by Iran against the United States, and we’re going to retaliate against Iran. I hope that’s the message that they’re putting out there. 

“But I think the fundamental question is the one you asked, what’s the strategy these guys have always used? They attack Israel, they kill a bunch of Israelis, and then they retreat and go into hiding and their system of tunnels behind the human shields in Gaza. Then Israel responds, and they go to the cameras. They go to the New York Times, they go to the global press, they go to Western elites, and they say, look what the Israelis are doing. And then everyone puts pressure on Israel to stop. We saw that play out in 2021. This time has to be different. 

“This level of savagery has no precedent. It was the single deadliest day for Jews in the world since the Holocaust ended. The administration warned today that we’re going to have even more imagery and more stories of savagery, and it’s going to trouble all of us. These people have to be put out of business. If they are not put out of business, they will emerge from this stronger. They don’t care how many civilians die, they don’t care how many buildings collapse. They will emerge from this stronger, and they will be viewed as heroes, and they will do this again. They will kill many more people if they are allowed to survive this. 

“It will not be easy. It will be painful going on the ground facing an insurgency…. It’s going to be tough. But I don’t know what other option Israel has. In my view, there’s only two sides to this. You’re either on Hamas’s side or you’re on Israel’s side. And I know which side I think America needs to be on until the job is done.”

On the Rubio bill that codified defense aid to Israel:

“Israel’s defense situation with the United States is in statute. We actually passed it. It was my law, bipartisan law, in 2021. They are guaranteed [more than] $3 billion dollars every year between now and 2028. That’s already in place. We’re not starting from zero here. 

“I think what will happen at some point as this unfolds is, Israel may have some specific munition needs that they need resupply for. I think they’ll have ample support in the Congress to do it. But what’s important to understand is that the administration already has existing codified authorities in our law to transfer things to [Israel]. 

“The biggest thing we could be doing for Israel right now is [to expedite the delivery of] the equipment they’ve already paid for and stuff they’re waiting for…. That doesn’t mean they won’t need more in the future, but that just means, as of right now, we know that they’ve got things in the pipeline. We’re not starting from zero the way we did, for example, with Ukraine.”