Transcript: Sen. Mark Warner on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," July 19, 2026

Key Points:

• Senator Mark Warner expressed condolences for U.S. military casualties in recent attacks on bases in Jordan and criticized the administration's war strategy, calling it a "war of choice" without a clear plan or achievable goals.
• Warner highlighted failures in degrading Iran's missile and drone capabilities and criticized the high cost of U.S. missile defense compared to Ukraine's effective use of low-cost drones, noting the U.S. has declined Ukraine's offer to share this technology.
• Warner opposed the confirmation of Jay Clayton as Director of National Intelligence due to his lack of understanding of election interference issues and expressed concern about acting DNI Bill Pulte's loyalty and lack of intelligence experience.
• Warner dismissed former President Trump's claims of election system vulnerabilities and foreign interference as falsehoods, emphasizing that intelligence agencies found no evidence of vote tampering in 2020 and criticized the Trump administration for dismantling election security programs.
• Warner warned that Trump's actions and rhetoric are aimed at undermining public confidence in elections and suggested potential interference tactics in the upcoming elections, including deploying ICE at polls or challenging voting machines.