Who?
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ)
LISTEN: Laslo & Kim
Ask a Pol asked:
So you — New Jersey residents (AskaARCHIVES: Guess we got NJ’s new governor, Mikie Sherrill on the record last year on the UAP swarms over her state), Senator Cory Booker and local officials back home — never got answers on the “drones” over Jersey, but now we’ve got lasers shooting “drones” out of the sky in El Paso?
Key Kim:
“I don’t know what is going on right now,” Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) tells Ask a Pol.
Does this raise more questions for FAA and Pentagon officials?
“Look, I’ve been pressing our government writ large in terms of just our ability to detect drones, be able to distinguish them from other aircraft and think through counter-drones," Kim says. "So I’m just only getting the headlines in terms of what we’re hearing. We’ll get some more details.”
Caught our ear:
“People need to have answers to this,” Kim exclusively tells us. “This type of just, you know, spontaneous announcement — of what, 10 days, you know? — I mean, it was just, however, they managed this was completely wrong. It created a lot of panic.”
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Andy Kim (2-11-2026)
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo hustles to catch up with Senator Andy Kim as he’s rushing to his car after voting on the windy eve at the US Capitol.
Matt Laslo: “Wait, Senator Kim!”
Laslo’s ducking in and out of Senate-vote traffic.
ML: “So you never got answers on the drones over Jersey, but now we got lasers shooting drones out of the sky in El Paso?”
Kim laughs.
Andy Kim: “I don’t know what is going on right now.”
ML: “Does this—does this raise more questions?”
AK: “Um, well look, I’ve been pressing this government in terms of, just been pressing our government writ large in terms of just our ability to detect drones, be able to distinguish them from other aircraft and think through counter-drones. So, I, you know, I’m just only getting the headlines in terms of what we’re hearing. We’ll get some more details.”
ML: “But what we’re hearing is nuts. Like, so we’re melting these down and, last I heard, Pentagon couldn’t even identify what they were.”
AK: “Really?”
ML: “In some places.”
AK: “I haven’t had a chance—I wasn’t able to see the FAA administrator today.”
ML: “You got a day job.”
Kim laughs.
AK: “But I will say, look, like, people need to have answers to this.”
ML: “Yeah.”
AK: “And this type of just, you know, spontaneous announcement — of what, 10 days, you know? — I mean, it was just, however, they managed this was completely wrong. It created a lot of panic.”
ML: “Yeah?”
Kim hops in car, as Laslo chases Senate Intel Vice-chair Mark Warner.
Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:
Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape. (generative) AI isn’t tomorrow’s tech — it’s yesterday’s…
