Sen. Tom Cotton told the Republican National Convention President Trump’s foreign policy accomplishments, especially on confronting China, far eclipsed those of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“Joe Biden aided and abetted China’s rise for 50 years with terrible trade deals that closed our factories and laid off our workers,” the Arkansas Republican said Thursday evening. “President Trump stands up to China’s cheating, and stealing, and lying.”
Cotton, 43, said that while Biden has a well-documented, 47-year track record of weakness and failure, Trump has made America strong again. He pointed to the administration’s success in eradicating ISIS, in contrast with how the terror network grew while Biden was vice president. He slammed the Iran nuclear deal the Obama administration negotiated, from which Trump withdrew. Cotton argued the pact strengthened the Iranian regime.
The senator has emerged as a top Trump ally, especially on immigration and China. Cotton was early in calling for a travel ban and holding Beijing accountable for its role in the spread of the coronavirus.
“Joe Biden said the Chinese Communists aren’t even our competitors, aren’t ‘bad folks’ — just months before they unleashed this plague on the world,” Cotton said. “President Trump is clear-eyed about the Chinese threat, and he’s making China pay.”
Cotton was elected to the Senate in 2014 after a single term in the House, unseating Democratic incumbent Mark Pryor as Republicans captured the majority. A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Cotton enlisted in the Army and is a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Since arriving in Washington, Cotton has been no stranger to controversy. He led the opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, writing an open letter to leaders in Tehran, signed by 46 other Republican senators, arguing that the agreement could be revoked by a future administration if it was not ratified as a treaty or otherwise approved by Congress. Trump subsequently did take this action. Democrats criticized the letter at the time as interference in American diplomacy and Barack Obama’s foreign policy.
Most recently, Cotton wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, arguing for a military role in suppressing rioting that broke out in several cities throughout the United States. “Some elites have excused this orgy of violence in the spirit of radical chic, calling it an understandable response to the wrongful death of George Floyd,” he wrote. “Those excuses are built on a revolting moral equivalence of rioters and looters to peaceful, law-abiding protesters. A majority who seek to protest peacefully shouldn’t be confused with bands of miscreants.”
The column was later disavowed by the New York Times and caused a major upheaval at the paper. A top opinion editor involved with its publication was axed, and another was reassigned. In an appearance on Fox News, Cotton described it as a revolt by “the woke progressive mob in their own newsroom.”
There has been speculation that Cotton will run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 or be considered for a position in the Trump administration if the president wins a second term. He connected Trump to Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” doctrine in his speech Thursday.
“No one who’s seen the face of war desires to see it again,” said Cotton, who has a reputation for being a hawk. “Too many of our fellow Americans are already honored at the hallowed grounds of Arlington. But if we want peace, we must be strong. Weakness is provocative. President Trump’s strength has kept us out of war.” He said a “strong and proud America” is also “safe from war.”
Cotton did not stop there. “But if we want peace, we must be strong. Weakness is provocative,” he added. “President Trump’s strength has kept us out of war.”
“Joe Biden won’t stand up for America. Donald Trump will,” he continued. “So, this November, let’s stand with the president and vote to keep America great.”
