Rep. Buddy Carter's defense of the war in Iran unraveled on live television Tuesday, when CNN anchor Brianna Keilar repeatedly confronted the Georgia Republican with President Donald Trump's own statements undercutting the rationale for the conflict.

Carter is an outgoing member of the House. He lost his seat in the Georgia primary while seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff, defeated by a more MAGA-aligned rival, Rep. Mike Collins, who in turn lost to Ossoff in the general election. Despite the setback, Carter continues to defend Trump's war in Iran — even though the president himself has dismissed the stated reason for the campaign in a recent interview. The interview crystallized the tension at the center of the war's public case: a congressional ally pressing to keep the campaign going to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon, even as the president has dismissed the idea that Iran possesses nuclear material for a weapons program at all.

Appearing on CNN, Carter insisted that the United States should "finish" the war in Iran, though he could not describe what a victory over Iran would look like.

"We're dealing with a conflict that has been going on for 47 years. We're dealing with a country where they chant in the streets, 'death to America.' These people, they don't have any sense," Carter said.

"I hear you and you've said that before," Keilar interrupted. "You said that the U.S. didn't start this particular episode very clearly. And voters do not agree with you, if you're looking at the polls."

Carter conceded that Keilar was "absolutely right" that "voters don't agree with us," but maintained that voters failed to understand the necessity of de-nuclearizing Iran.

Keilar then played a clip of Trump telling "60 Minutes" reporter Ross Douthat that he dismissed the idea that Iran even possesses nuclear material for a weapons program — remarks documented in the president's unedited interview.

"They have — they have nothing," Trump told Douthat. "It's buried under thousands of tons of rock."

"They 'have nothing,' he says," Keilar pressed. "And if it's buried under thousands of tons of rock, as you're aware it has been since June of 2025 … why did the U.S. then go to war to stop a nuclear weapon program … and why are you saying that is the basis for continuing?"

Carter responded that he lacked access to classified information. "I do not have access to the intelligence that this administration has to know whether Iran is continuing to try to develop a nuclear bomb, if they're continuing to try to develop ballistic missiles that can reach our homeland. If they have a nuclear weapon, they will use them. And we cannot allow that to happen," he said.

"But he says 'they have nothing,'" Keilar insisted.

"Well, I trust the president, if that's what he says. But he must have some intelligence that tells him we've got to stop them," Carter replied, before shifting to an accusatory tone. "… How much longer do you want it to go on? Those people, they chant death to America in the streets. They want us dead. They want us wiped out."

"It's not about what I want," Keilar shot back. "We're talking about what the voters want. A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows 71 percent of Americans and 51 percent of Republicans want Congress to end the Iran war. Are they wrong?"

"No, I'm not saying the people are wrong. We want the war to end. The president wants the war to end, but we want to make sure that Iran is decimated, that they don't have the opportunity to hold the Strait [of Hormuz] hostage and manipulate gas prices like they have been doing," Carter said.

"But they weren't doing that until the war began, with the Strait of Hormuz," Keilar noted. "And the president is saying 'they have nothing' and that this nuclear stuff is buried under thousands of tons of rock."

By that point, Carter appeared to be losing his temper. "If you want to continue to defend the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world, that's fine, but I'm not going to…"

"I'm quoting the president. I am not defending Iran," Keilar replied. "I am telling you what the president said in an interview, and I played his words for you, and I know you heard him."

The segment ended with that tension unresolved — how the administration reconciles the president's "60 Minutes" remarks with the case for continuing the war, and whether Congress acts on the majorities Keilar cited who want it ended.

A video of the full exchange is available on YouTube.