Matt Gaetz: ‘America First’ Means Protecting U.S. Border Before Avenging Japanese Vessels

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) suggested on Sunday that America should secure its border before avenging foreign vessels allegedly attacked by Iran.

Congressman Gaetz tweeted Sunday, suggesting that America should heed Japan and Norway’s caution against war with Iran amid heightened tensions with the Middle Eastern nation.

The Florida congressman wrote, “Japanese and Norwegian vessels were attacked. If these nations aren’t calling for war, neither should the U.S. We can’t afford another #ForeverWar“:

Rep. Gaetz wrote that President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy means that the country must protect its borders from illegal immigration and cartel violence before it attacks foreign nations.

President Donald Trump garnered much support for his America First foreign policy, contending that America should focus less on intervention and nation-building abroad and more on rebuilding the nation at home.

Gaetz charged, “‘America First’ means protecting our border from the ‘Gulf Cartel’ before avenging foreign vessels in the Gulf of Oman.” Gaetz also tweeted out a Breitbart News article which detailed how the FBI believes that murders on Texas soil were linked to Gulf Cartel violence.

Opposition to war with Iran has become a bipartisan issue as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that she has no interest in going to war with Iran. Pelosi said, “We have absolutely no appetite for going to war, or to be provocative to create situations that might evoke responses, where mistakes could be made.”

Congressman Gaetz delivered an impassioned speech outlining his non-interventionist America First policy in May, in which he charged that because the neoconservatives and the “War Lobby” never received their intervention in Syria, they have turned their gaze towards Iran.

Gaetz explained:

Luckily, the War Lobby never got its desired intervention in Syria, largely thanks to Donald Trump— the ONLY major presidential candidate who spoke against the idea. The so-called “experts” behind our failed foreign policy have not learned from their mistakes because they have never been held accountable for them. And so today the saber-rattling persists, and is directed toward Venezuela, Yemen, and, most disturbingly, Iran.

Rep. Gaetz even blasted the neoconservative experts who believe that America has a “moral obligation” to intervene abroad.

“Real morality and real toughness is standing up to the pro-war special interests and globalist power brokers. Real morality is affirming forever that the blood of American troops is not for sale,” Gaetz said.

“As policymakers, it is our task to fight harder in Washington to understand the deep consequences of US military force both at home and around the world. President Trump is staying true to the instincts he expressed while campaigning as an America First, anti-interventionist Republican,” the Florida conservative added.