Sen. Mark Kelly says Democrats have to 'do a better job' if they have good midterm showing

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz, said Sunday that the Democratic party needs to do a “better job” if they were to win control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

“I think we have to have answers. We have to have, we have to pass legislation. We have to send it to the president's desk. Hopefully, if it benefits the American people, he will sign it,” Kelly told “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.

Many of November’s elections are shaping up to be tight races, with some recent polls indicating Democrats could come out on top. Charlie Cook, founder of the Cook Political Report, also appeared on “This Week” Sunday and predicted that Democrats would win both the House of Representatives and the Senate -- something he said earlier this week would be less a as “blue wave,” but rather a “red undertow.”

“It's hitting some places more than other places, but it isn't pro-Democrat. It's anti-Trump basically, and Republicans that have been supported by the president,” Cook said.

Kelly said that many Americans are frustrated with the Republican party and administration.

“I think there's going to be a big turnout. I think some of these races are going to be close, and it really comes down to the fact that the American people are just struggling and Republicans and this president don't have an answer,” Kelly said.

Kelly also cited the war with Iran as a big factor that could be driving voters to pull the lever for Democrats.

“War and tariffs caused by Donald Trump and enabled by the Republicans in the United States Congress are just killing the American people. I mean, they cannot afford their lives, and when you can't, when you're having a hard time feeding your kid, I mean, nothing else really matters,” Kelly said.

The war with Iran has severely limited the flow of oil through the critical Strait of Hormuz, spiking oil prices. This week at the United Nations, Iran’s president proposed a seven-day plan to reopen the strait, which President Trump rejected.

“Well, I'm rejecting their deal. They want to make a deal where we open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly,” said Trump on Saturday.

“The president got into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline, without an exit strategy. He's stuck,” said Kelly.

“This thing has been a disaster and it's been a mistake, and it's because of the failed leadership of this president,” Kelly added.

Prior to the war with Iran, "the straits were open and we didn't have" dead and wounded service members, Kelly further said. "This thing has been a disaster, and it's been a mistake, and it's because of the failed leadership of this president.”

Raddatz also asked Kelly about artificial intelligence and Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a lavish state visit last week, Xi met with the president in Washington, D.C., with many hoping progress would be made on a deal to regulate the development of AI. Kelly said that he thinks the two leaders instead agreed to set up “sort of a working group.”

“That's not an agreement. It doesn't look like they had a serious discussion about this. This technology is moving very, very quickly. It could be very disruptive to hardworking Americans, could lose their jobs,” said Kelly. “There's safety concerns about this, and the White House, specifically the president, doesn't seem to think we should put any guardrails in place."

Kelly also expressed the desire to stay ahead of China in AI development -- a sentiment echoed by Trump. In a post on social media, the president claimed in part "there is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so."

"At the same time, we can't allow the Chinese to win the race to getting the best AI technology. That would be a mistake," Kelly added.