The following is the transcript of the interview with Rep. Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on June 7, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Republican Congressman Don Bacon, who joins us from Omaha, Nebraska. Welcome back to Face the Nation.
REP. DON BACON: Thank you, Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Before we get to national security, I want to ask you about politics and candidate quality. Last month, Texas Republicans chose to make Ken Paxton their Senate nominee, despite the fact, as Texas AG, he was impeached by the Republican-controlled House on multiple charges of abuse of office, including bribery. His wife is divorcing him on what she called biblical grounds because of adultery, and he was indicted in 2015 on securities fraud charges that were later dropped. Despite all this, the President backed him over sitting Senator John Cornyn, and so did Texas Republicans. For your party, does Trump’s favor carry more weight than character?
REP. BACON: I think in many cases it does. His endorsement in a primary is often carries- carries the most weight. I think it was a mistake. I think this has hurt the president. A lot of senators feel very close to Senator Cornyn. He was a big fundraiser. He helped a lot of these Republicans get elected all over the country, so there’s a lot of loyalty to John Cornyn. In fact, I know him too, and I admire the guy. And now they’ve not- we’ve nominated a guy in Texas that is probably the most vulnerable in a general election, and it puts that seat up for grabs. So, it was- I don’t think it was a wise decision, and I would say- one other factor here is the Democrat nominee. I think he’s also pretty weak, though, in Texas. So, I think they both- both sides have nominated people that are vulnerable in general. But, John Cornyn could have won the seat easily, and now the Republicans will be spending a lot of money to hold it, and I think it was a mistake.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I know you have chosen to retire, but if you were having to campaign and explain all this, including the higher gas prices, how would you persuade voters?
REP. BACON: Well, I try to, in my case, I try to show- I try to do what’s right, whether it’s President Trump’s position or not his position. And I just try to look voters in the eye that say, “Hey, I support Ukraine. I think tariffs are a mistake. I have votes to back it up. I also support the fact that we secured the border. I support, generally, what we’re doing in Iran, because Iran has been waging war against us for 47 years.” So, I just try to call balls and strikes, and I try to be honest, and I try to do once I’m elected what I campaign on.
MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. Well, we’ll let you call some of those balls and strikes on the other side of this commercial break that I have to take. So, please stay with us. We have more questions for Congressman Bacon, and a lot more Face the Nation. Stay with us.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Welcome back to Face the Nation. We return now to our conversation with Nebraska Republican Congressman Don Bacon. Congressman, I want to go to Europe and talk about Ukraine, but let me first ask you about what was said at Normandy on Saturday. Secretary Hegseth seemed in his remarks to link immigration to the legacy of the D-Day landings by Allied forces who were liberating Europe from the Nazis. Take a listen.
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SEC. HEGSETH: Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion?
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MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m not sure who the allies were in that analogy, but I wonder what you make of Hegseth’s remarks.
REP. BACON: You know, Normandy is a time to celebrate a great day. You know, it was- I’ve been on the beaches of Omaha, and you know, we lost about 3,000 troops on that beach on one day. That’s where the focus should have been. It’s a chance to celebrate with our allies. We work together to defeat Nazi Germany, and one of the concerns that many of us have when it comes to this administration, and particularly the Pentagon, right now, they’re very critical of Europe, they’re critical of the EU, they’re critical of NATO, they’re critical of a lot of the countries that make up NATO, and you never hear him criticize Russia, and that bothers us. Why are they so weak on Russia which affects their Ukraine foreign policy, their policy towards the Baltics, but they are quick to always want to criticize Europe. It reminds me of the message that Secretary Hegseth sent to the Vice President on Signal when he said how much he loathed Europe. Well, I think that’s not good for America. It’s not good for our national security, and we are allies. We have to work together to counter Russia, to counter China, to help us in the Middle East, and his constant criticism, along with the President’s threats towards Greenland, as well as Canada. It’s hurt us. Our allies have lost a lot of trust. So, I don’t think these comments by the Secretary were helpful.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, I know you have been taking a stand against Russia and for Ukraine. You did that this past week, along with some of your colleagues, as you put it in remarks on the House floor. “This is our Churchill moment, or our Chamberlain moment, and by God, I’m going to choose Churchill.” 17 Republicans joined you the last time we saw a vote on Ukraine aid, there were 100 Republicans supporting it. What is going on here? And how do you get the Senate to take up what you did get over the line?
REP. BACON: Well, a couple things here. First of all, the President has had a policy of wanting to negotiate a settlement. I don’t think it’s working. He is too much as trying to act like an umpire, trying to work with two different people in a boxing match, but it’s not the case. You have a country that’s invading Ukraine, they’re bombing cities every night. There’s a good versus evil here, and America should be, you know, unabashedly for the right side here, the democracy, the country that wants free markets, the country that wants to align with us. Russia hates us. I don’t know why the president can’t see that. Putin hates the United States, he hates what we stand for. So that’s- that’s a problem there when it comes to the House, the Speaker has not wanted his, not wanted to get in front of the president on this, and so he lobbied pretty hard, and we call it whipping against this vote. I think he was wrong. I’ve waited for a year and a half in this Congress to get something done on Ukraine, and we’ve done nothing. There’s been no votes, no policies from the leadership here or the president to support a country that’s fighting for its life. I agree with your previous interview that Ukraine has the upper hand right now, but Russia is bombing those cities every night, and we should be there to help them to defend against these ballistic missile attacks. The Speaker whipped against us, so that’s why I drove that number down. I think he was wrong. He says he’s pro-Ukraine, but the actions speak louder than words.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Zelensky was on this program last Sunday, asking for more interceptors, but also he made clear that he wants friendly countries in Europe who have a good relationship with the US to be able to produce the Patriots as well. I know your colleague Mike Turner wrote to the President last week asking for that part to be delivered on. Do you support it? I mean, what’s the hold up?
REP. BACON: I do support it. We cannot produce enough Patriots right now to handle what we’re doing on Iran to provide. Ukraine, but also we need to have the same missile defenses in Asia, for whether it’s North Korea or China, and we’re not producing enough, so we should look for our allies to help create additional production lines. I know Ukraine would love to help do that, and they need these missiles very badly. What I would do in this case, and we have a low stockpile because of Iran, I would sit down with our allies and just look at what assets we have and come up with a plan to give anti-ballistic missile technology and capabilities to Ukraine, and we can’t do it all, but we should sit down with our allies and build a plan and get it done.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Don Bacon, Republican from Nebraska. Thank you so much, sir. We’ll be right back.
