Republican senator scrambling to defend Trump makes startling admission: 'I feel the pain'

A Republican senator admitted that Americans were feeling "pain" from President Donald Trump's decision to launch a war against Iran.

Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) appeared Thursday on Fox News, where he told anchor Sandra Smith that fuel costs would go back down once hostilities cooled after the unraveling of the memorandum of understanding signed last month.

"It's important,I don't discount it," the Indiana Republican said. "I hear from Hoosiers that talk about high gas prices, and we want gas prices to come down, and the good news, as you saw when the president signed the short-term [memorandum of understanding] with the Iranians, you saw gas prices immediately go down; now they are creeping back up."

The 14-point framework agreed to by the Trump administration mandated a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and 60 days to negotiate a nuclear agreement, but the terms of that memorandum are effectively dead with the resumption of military strikes.

"We know that as soon as westrike a deal and end Iran'sability to have a nuclear weaponand we can finish the war," Banks said, "weknow gas prices will immediatelygo down to where they need tobe, lower than we've ever seenbefore because of President Trump's energypolicies."

"This is temporary," he added. "I feel the pain.I hear this from Hoosiers aswell.Gas prices will go down as soonas Iran does the right thing andends their nuclear program."