Sen. Mark Kelly joined the roundtable on The View Tuesday to share his hopes and fears about what could happen post-midterm elections. Kelly says a lot of work will have to be done moving forward regardless of who is in office, and it boils down to politicians having a real conscience and dedication to the American people.
When Sara Haines asked whether Democrats should prioritize investigating the Trump administration or addressing affordability if they regain control of the House in the midterm elections, Kelly argued that the choice is more complicated than it seems.
“I don’t think this election is about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about electing people who are going to stand with the American people, or people who are going to stand with the elite [which includes] big corporations, the wealthiest Americans and Donald Trump and his friends. The Republicans currently in Congress won't stand up to this guy,” Kelly noted.
He added: “We need to elect people who are going to do what the American people need them to do, like bring down costs and address issues of affordable healthcare and food security. Right now we have half of the country having a problem affording food.”
Joy Behar followed up to ask Kelly to elaborate on his statement about Republicans refusing to stand up to Trump, and why he feels that’s the case. Kelly responded, saying he believes most Republicans care about their own job security and what’s in their best interest, versus the larger issues at hand. “Many have had this dream of being US senators since they were kids,” he asserted. “It is pathetic, and they think he [Trump] can cost them their position in the US Senate, so they will not stand up to him,” adding that if things change in the election, the Republicans may “grow a spine.”
Whoopi Goldberg added that any Democrats elected need to be able to repair some of the damage that has been done by the current administration. Kelly agreed, noting, “The damage is significant, especially at the DOJ … they’ve purged a whole generation of leaders, folks they don’t deem as sufficiently loyal. They’ve fired people because of their gender and the color of their skin. Black people and women got fired. And those were fantastic leaders, and it’s hard to replace them[.]"