‘To be honest’: MAGA lawmaker sparks fury with shrugging statement on dead troops

A Republican’s shrugging comments about fallen U.S. military service members were criticized on Wednesday amid growing unpopularity over the Iran war.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) was talking to CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer about recent polling showing that Americans are opposed to the conflict, despite President Donald Trump‘s remarks that Americans are in favor of the war. Trump had defended the military strikes before heading to the dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base for four military members killed in recent days.

Journalist Aaron Rupar shared the exchange on X and quoted Gimenez in a manner highlighting a significant word in his statement: “My heart goes out to the families of those four, but … “

That “but” rankled with Rupar’s readers.

Patric Reynolds, comic book artist and progressive political commentator, wrote, “There should be no ‘but’ after that,”

Liberal political commentator Trish Crawford raised her concerns over what Gimenez said.

“I’ve started to view all of the words in a sentence that come before ‘but’ as untruthful” Crawford wrote on Bluesky. “The heart of the statement comes after.”

Giminez followed up his comment by explaining, “At the end I think the best way to honor the dead… is to make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Anything short of that, for me, is failure, to be honest with you.”

Georgetown professor and political commentator Steve Vladeck took a sarcastic tone when he quoted a famously inaccurate speech in the movie “Animal House” meant to inspire drunken frat boys to sabotage a parade.

“Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?’” he wrote

Mason, a political commentator and user who self-describes as a veteran and an independent, wrote on X.

“We just need a Hiroshima or a Nagasaki, right Carlos?” he wrote.

BLITZER: How do you explain the disconnect between what the president says and how Americans feel according to almost all of these most recent polls? REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ: Prior to World War 2, 85% of Americans were not in favor of entering that war, and then it all changes pic.twitter.com/iwmzGQStEk — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 22, 2026