Cuba is a communist dictatorship. Anyone seeking to serve in the United States Senate should be able to say those words without hesitation. Angie Nixon has never been to Gaza, yet she has had no problem calling what happened there a genocide and encouraging others to antagonize those supporting Israel’s right to exist. Nixon voluntarily joined the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that has sent delegations to Havana to meet with Cuban government officials and publicly praised the achievements of Cuban socialism. Meanwhile, the Cuban people live under a regime that imprisons political opponents, suppresses dissent, and denies its citizens the most fundamental freedoms. There is nothing progressive about making excuses for communist dictatorships. And there is nothing democratic about refusing to recognize one. My first mission in the United States Navy was rescuing Cuban families fleeing Castro’s regime. I spent the next 26 years defending the Constitution and the freedoms those families risked everything to find. I find it profoundly disturbing that someone aspiring to represent the United States in the Senate would struggle to answer a question so fundamental to our country’s principles. I will not stand behind Angie Nixon or defend her remarks. If the Democratic party is unwilling to condemn them, I will. The Democratic Party does not own my conscience, and political loyalty will never supersede my duty to this country.