Cotton: China Wants to Be Able to Threaten ‘Nuclear Annihilation’ and Hit ‘All of the Continental United States’

On Tuesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) reacted to China’s hypersonic missile test by stating China wants to be able to threaten the U.S. with “nuclear annihilation.” And China wants “to be able to strike and hold at risk all of the continental United States.”

Cotton said the test is “a reminder the Chinese Communist Party wants to replace the United States as the world’s dominant economic and military superpower so they can call the shots, so they can dictate to the United States what our policies will be around the world and who we can and cannot support, and that they can hold all of the United States at risk with the [threat] of nuclear annihilation.”

He added, “It’s not shocking that the Chinese have been working on these hypersonic missiles. That’s been known for a while, as has the United States. We are still more advanced than China is, but China, as they are in so many other cases in their military buildup, is closing the gap.”

Cotton further stated that given the advantages hypersonic missiles have, “it’s not surprising that China is pursuing these. Because they want to be able to strike and hold at risk all of the continental United States.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett