Republican Senator Says War Is More Important Than Your Pocketbook

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The New Republic

April 14, 2026 / 11:42 a.m. ET


Republican Senator Roger Marshall wants Americans to stop complaining about gas prices because they’re necessary for “national security.”. Speaking on Newsmax’s Wake Up America Tuesday morning, Marshall was asked about the Iran war, and the Kansas politician was dismissive of its negative economic effects on the American people.

“I’m sorry the gas prices are going up, but help is on its way, and your national security, yes, is even more important than your pocketbook,” Marshall said.

Marshall doubled down when asked how long Americans would be paying higher energy costs, saying, “I think back to my grandparents and their generation that served in World War II.”

“Could you imagine trying to tell the president, ‘Look, you only got so many days to defeat Hitler or defeat Japan?’ We have to do it till we get the outcome that we want. I hope it’s weeks and not months, but at the end of the day, Americans are going to be safer,” Marshall said.

Read more: https://newrepublic.com/post/209038/republican-senator-marshall-iran-war-worth-higher-gas-prices-pocketbook

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Sen. Roger Marshall: "I'm sorry that gas prices are going up, but help is on the way, and your national security is even more important than your pocketbook."
8:14 AM · Apr 14, 2026

[Deuxcents]

1. If we had been attacked, I'm sure we'd all be pitching in but we weren't. We bombed Iran twice

And this second time was an agreement with Bibi because TSF felt it in his bones. This is unnecessary and we’ve not been told the reasons why, what the are plans and what is expected when goals are achieved. There is no comparison with this and the mission in WWII and to equate the two is gaslighting, which we’ve had our fill of.

[Roy Rolling]

30. The very definition of "specious reasoning"

By MAGAt logic, I am a dragon killer.

I have been protecting Washington, DC from dragon attacks all year.

The fact there are no dragon attacks is proof of my protection power.

Give me all your money.

[mwmisses4289]

31. Here be a dragon 🐉 for ya!

Or perhaps two! 🐲🐉🐲
Along with their unicorn handler!🦄

[sakabatou]

2. Well, senator, go to your local office and join the military if it's so important.

PUT YOUR OWN BOOTS ON THE GROUND!

[turbinetree]

3. I second your motion..............and this Marshall guy is an idiot...............

[Akakoji]

20. Clearly

But he certainly feels at home on Newsmax. Where is he even from? Wait, funny I was going to say what a Moran!

[mwmisses4289]

33. Or if he's to old, send his sons, daughters, grandkids, neices and nephews!

[bluestarone]

37. REC THIS times a

TRILLION!!!

[MarineCombatEngineer]

4. Hey Roger Marshall,

Last edited Tue Apr 14, 2026, 09:54 PM - Edit history (1)

I know you served 7 years in the Army Reserves, but never in combat, so, here's my proposal,
go volunteer for combat duty in the Gulf then, and only then, can you endorse sending young service members into combat in Iran, otherwise, shut your fucking pie hole.
Let's compare your time in service compared to mine and many other DU members:
I served 35 years as an active duty Marine, 3 combat tours, 2 in Vietnam, 1 in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, I was wounded twice in Vietnam but still returned to full fill my 2 tours.

What danger did you face in peace time?

You are nothing more than a fucking Chicken Hawk who's willing to send our sons and daughters into actual combat all the while collecting a paycheck from the people of America.


Master Gunnery Sargeant Dware (Ret.)
USMC- 1964-1999.
Semper Fi.

Fuck off you piece of shit.

[sheshe2]

10. I approve this message!

[MarineCombatEngineer]

13. Thank you sheshe2.

Nothing pisses me off more than some fucking chicken hawk who is willing to send my sisters and brothers in arms into harm's way all the while sitting behind a desk, collecting a paycheck courtesy of the American people who never served a day in his life in combat facing a determined foe.

[sheshe2]

16. Barry Mcguire's lyrics

They have been playing over and over in my head.

"You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction"

[MarineCombatEngineer]

17. Barry McGuire

&list=RDh-V1t0PLQ2E&start_radio=1

[sheshe2]

18. Yup.

How the hell did we get here again.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

19. Trumpedo and his criminal cabal,

and those that didn't believe that he would do exactly what he said he would do.

[bluestarone]

38. IF and i say IF these bastards do what i'm feeling they will do to our great country, i only wish

someday i will meet up with people like you to STOP some of these BASTARDS!!! Edit to add THANK YOU for your service, i really mean this!!!!

[dem4decades]

28. From Pink Floyd

"Forward " he cried from the rear
And the front rank died
The general sat, and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side

[dem4decades]

27. I appreciate your service, your awareness and your speaking up.

I'm so disappointed that many veterans and active service members support Trump and the Republicans. They buy the bull that is being sold to them that Republicans are the pro America and pro veterans party, all the while the Republicans are undermining America and gutting programs that help veterans. How can the Democrats appeal to veterans that have an aversion to seeing the truth. Thanks again.

[paleotn]

49. It's always the Guard or Reserve guys, who spent their entire time in uniform counting paper clips.

[Martin68]

5. Republican Senator is full of shit and backing a losing horse.

[dickthegrouch]

6. His future security depends on bankrupting us now.

He thinks.
But his millions won’t buy him trustworthy slaves when humanity is at 10% of current numbers. He will starve (or better) too.

[IronLionZion]

7. The MAGA campaign slogan

[Cha]

8. Fuck Off Nazi *****

We'll decide what's more important...

I Choose Life. :cande:

[Bristlecone]

9. A gross characterization and comparison.

[ChicagoTeamster]

11. If oil is a matter of national security, then the oil companies should be nationalized.

[Farmer-Rick]

39. War is more important than your pocket book But

Never more important than pedo Trump's pocket book. Which is the whole reason for this war and the war in Venezuela.

Pedo Trump is using the US military like a mob boss using muscle for an extortion racket centered around oil.

When he wanted in on the toll Iran will charge for passage through the strait of Hormuz, that gave the whole game away. He's doing this for more money he can stuff into his pockets. He's upping oil prices on purpose after beating up Venezuela and taking their oil. With higher oil prices, the price of American oil goes up and up and up. Lining pedo Trump's bulging gold lined pockets. A plan Putin is quite happy with.

[ChicagoTeamster]

40. And in the meantime, As long as Israel keeps bombing Lebanon, Iranian missiles hit Israel, and Iran just got more parts

from China. And more anti aircraft systems. While the US needs Chinese components for the missiles and smart bombs we burned through in Iran. 850 tomahawk missiles.

AT the going rate who is going to run out first? Will Israel run out of interceptors before Iran runs out of missiles? What if China decides that it's okay to invade Taiwan? Will we have enough ordnance left to defend Taiwan? What if Iran finds a way to send small unmanned drone carrying subs that they launch off the coastal US ? Will we have enough to defend against them? Do we now?

What was so critical about attacking Iran that justified burning through so much specific ordnance without a plan for what the endpoint is or a plan to manage resources to cover other potential conflicts or defend the homeland ?

What justifies potentially committing ground troops to a land invasion?

If Israel can't or won't commit ground troops what is so important that the US should ?

[Farmer-Rick]

44. Good question all,

You lay out some inevitable consequences that a normal brain would have been weary of.

But pedo Trump doesn't see any other implications to his extortion attempts but his own possible profits. It's all about him and how he might profit from it. But because he sees no one else's motives and can not imagine anyone successfully standing up to his mocho posturing, he has a reckless disregard for the catastrophe he is creating.

[Justice matters.]

12. What that repuke says is, he doesn't suffer with his big salary

AND his free healthcare plan, for all him and his Republican accomplices care.

He's like telling the vast majority living paycheck to paycheck they can eat cake.

[littlemissmartypants]

14. He also believes in ivermectin. Read his bio.

Roger Wayne Marshall
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Marshall

How rich is Kansas’ senator: Roger Marshall’s net worth revealed
https://finbold.com/guide/roger-marshall-net-worth/

[Intractable]

15. This war was fought by the US for Israel and because of Epstein.

Trump promised no wars and reduced prices.

[Skittles]

21. that POS comparing this crap to WWII

un-fucking-believable

[Intractable]

23. Well, it could be the beginnings of WWIII!

Just joking on that. It seems the only ones who want this war are Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu.

[Skittles]

24. yup, there was a reason America entered WWII

we didn't fucking help to start it

[cstanleytech]

22. Dear Senator Asshole, Did Congress declare war? No? Then fuck off you useless piece of shit!!!

[raccoon]

25. Roger Marshall represents Kansas.

but plenty of states, mine included, have like-minded nitwits in office.

[Bengus81]

32. I have him for a Senator, he's a Trump ass kissing jackass

Here's a video of him walking out of a town hall filled with his Republican voters.

He's a flaming POS............

[no_hypocrisy]

26. Then why war when this country won't be worth "saving"?

No democracy

No economic opportunity and security

No trust amongst each other

Having a war for the sake of Dystopia makes no sense

[Irish_Dem]

29. Unless of course it affects his pocket book.

[boonecreek]

34. He's actually running for reelection.

Just handed his eventual opponent a killer campaign add.

[maxsolomon]

41. Except it's Kansas.

Is there a realistic chance for a Democrat in Kansas?

[boonecreek]

46. They've had a Democratic governor (Laura Kelly) since 2009.

I'm not counting anything out this year. She's also running for reelection.
Maybe there will be a coattail effect.

[twodogsbarking]

35. Where I grew up they would say he is "suckin' off of the public tit".

[twodogsbarking]

36. When is the cease fire, well, over?

[MyOwnPeace]

42. Dear Senator Fucknuts (yeah, YOU Marshall!!),

When your “Art-of-the-Steal” Supreme Commander tells you that he’s “won” - remember this:
PRESIDENT OBAMA had a treaty with Iran that had the ‘Strait’ open and free, AND an agreement for control of Iran’s nuclear activities - and it was agreed upon WITHOUT ANY military intervention.

So, what’s YOUR big guy gonna’ give you for what WE have invested in this bizarre, embarrassing farce?
Oh, and we had allies that were working with us too……….

[Racygrandma]

43. From KS here

I can’t stand that guy. He is well hated here

[PghTiny]

45. He's up for reelection this year

Let's get this bum out of office!

[calimary]

47. Same for YOU, dude.

Here’s hoping ALL your campaign donations dry up.

[Rebl2]

48. Not going

to go over with MAGA, or anyone else for that matter, very well. Nobody, including MAGA wants a war.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

50. MaddowBlog-Republican senator, seeking re-election, urges public to stop complaining about gas prices

As GOP officials figure out what to say about prices at the pump, they should probably not follow Roger Marshall’s example.

Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s up for re-election in Kansas, wants consumers to stop complaining about high gas prices because Trump needed to address Iran’s nuclear weapons ...

... which might make more sense, were it not for the inconvenient fact that Iran didn’t have nuclear weapons.

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-04-15T17:02:42.965Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republican-senator-seeking-re-election-urges-public-to-stop-complaining-about-gas-prices

They should probably avoid following the example set by Republican Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas. The New Republic noted:

Republican Senator Roger Marshall wants Americans to stop complaining about gas prices because they’re necessary for ‘national security.’

Speaking on Newsmax’s ‘Wake Up America’ Tuesday morning, Marshall was asked about the Iran war, and the Kansas politician was dismissive of its negative economic effects on the American people.

“I’m sorry the gas prices are going up, but help is on its way, and your national security, yes, is even more important than your pocketbook,” Marshall said.

Sen. Roger Marshall: "I'm sorry that gas prices are going up, but help is on the way, and your national security is even more important than your pocketbook."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-04-14T12:15:12.895Z

.....Joseph Cirincione, the vice chair of the Center for International Policy and a longtime expert on nuclear policy, recently told MS NOW that even if Iran could have developed material to use in a nuclear weapon, that would be the first of multiple, time-consuming steps — steps that officials in Tehran had not yet taken before the American president launched this war of choice.

The day the war began, The New York Times reported:

He was not driven by an immediate threat. There was no race for a bomb. Iran is further from the capability to build a nuclear weapon today than it has been in several years, thanks largely to the success of the president’s previous strike on Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, in June.

While Mr. Trump claimed Tehran was ultimately aiming to reach to the United States with its array of missiles, even his own Defense Intelligence Agency concluded last year that it would be a decade before Iran could get past the technological and production hurdles to produce a significant arsenal.

With this in mind, the question is why the hapless junior senator from the great state of Kansas is so confused. It’s plausible to make a case that national security is more important than temporary hits to American wallets, but is Marshall prepared to make the case that illusory national security challenges are more important than consumers’ pocketbooks? Is this the message he’ll be emphasizing in the run-up to Election Day 2026?

[walkingman]

51. Our actions are shameful. I do not like bullies.

[raising2moredems]

52. What a f-ing idiot..

and more proof Thomas Frank's book is spot on. National security my arse - may karma be a bitch with impeccable timing.