But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Kasie Whitener
Libertarian · U.S. Senate, South Carolina
✓Opposes
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: In her own words she names military money to Israel as wasteful spending driving the debt and says the U.S. ought to stay out of the Middle East conflict, and nothing she says points toward continuing it. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Whitener, the Libertarian nominee, counts U.S. military aid to the government of Israel among the costs behind the federal debt, writing in June 2026 of "funneling taxpayer dollars into defense industry companies through Ukraine, Iran, and Israel." On the Middle East: "I think we ought to stay out of it."
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Whitener is a writer, business owner, radio host and educator at the University of South Carolina, and the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina.
In a June 2026 essay on the federal debt on her campaign site, she lists what is expensive: "building ballrooms, snatching Venezuelan Presidents from their beds, and funneling taxpayer dollars into defense industry companies through Ukraine, Iran, and Israel." Ignoring the debt, she writes, means not asking "hard questions about government procurement processes, bloated budgets, and uncapped foreign aid."
In August 2025 she posted her answers at a Republican event. Asked how she would fill the role Lindsey Graham had filled as a close ally to Israel, she wrote: "I don’t see filling that role as part of the job description for a South Carolina Senator. While I will be glad to forge close alliances and friendships with our diplomatic allies, I expect to navigate that in my own way." Asked her stand on the Middle East: "I think we ought to stay out of it."
She has said nothing located on U.S. aid to Palestinians. You are better placed to ask her than we are: ask Whitener directly and send us the reply. It goes on this page in her own words.
The money
Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-13) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
In their words
“So, too, is building ballrooms, snatching Venezuelan Presidents from their beds, and funneling taxpayer dollars into defense industry companies through Ukraine, Iran, and Israel.”
“I don’t see filling that role as part of the job description for a South Carolina Senator. While I will be glad to forge close alliances and friendships with our diplomatic allies, I expect to navigate that in my own way.”
“I think we ought to stay out of it. Decades of US Presidents and Secretaries of State have been lured to the Middle East conflict like moths to flame.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
[Position, 2026-06-17] Her campaign essay "We Can’t Tax Our Way Out of This", on the federal debt: "Fulfilling promises to donors is expensive. Just like running campaigns is expensive. So, too, is building ballrooms, snatching Venezuelan Presidents from their beds, and funneling taxpayer dollars into defense industry companies through Ukraine, Iran, and Israel. It’s expensive out there for everyone." Also: "Ignore the debt and we won’t have to ask hard questions about government procurement processes, bloated budgets, and uncapped foreign aid."
[Position, 2025-08-07] Her account of a Republican Q&A event, posted on her campaign site. Asked "How will you fill the role Lindsey Graham has filled as a close ally to Israel?", she wrote: "To my knowledge, Senator Graham doesn’t have an official capacity in which he serves Israel. If he does not win reelection, I feel confident he will still be engaged with Prime Minister Netanyahu in some capacity. It’s a close friendship. I don’t see filling that role as part of the job description for a South Carolina Senator. While I will be glad to forge close alliances and friendships with our diplomatic allies, I expect to navigate that in my own way."
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located. Her campaign site's posts carry no mention of Palestinians, Gaza or UNRWA (the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees).
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, 2025-08-07] Same event, asked her stand on the Middle East: "I think we ought to stay out of it. Decades of US Presidents and Secretaries of State have been lured to the Middle East conflict like moths to flame. As if solving it would be some pinnacle of diplomacy. I’m not chasing a Nobel Peace Prize. In terms of foreign policy, I am usually in the “stay out of it” camp."
[Position, 2025-07-05, published date on her campaign site] "Violence is not a Game": about Israel's strike on Iran, which the post says came while the United States was negotiating with Iran over uranium enrichment, and about a South Carolina senator's "game on" post. It is not about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel. Her words: "We ended the week with Israel bombing Iran and one of our South Carolina Senators posting “game on.”" and "Use of military force for any purpose is not a game." On the strike: "State sponsored murder is aggression." On allies: "And our allies are taking risks we may be expected to support. Or, in the words of one Senator from South Carolina, risks we already support."
[Position, 2026-03-03] "Do the ends justify the means?", on military action taken without Congress's authorization: "Second, in Iran where we assisted Israel in bombing the Ayatollah and senior members of his government." Her objection is to acts of war without congressional authorization.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
Nothing located.
Safety and antisemitism (context)
[Position, 2026-03-03] Same post: "We have Israeli and Jewish people in our community who worry about their safety in the Middle East but also in the U.S. as anti-semitism surges worldwide."
What the campaign site and own pages say
Five posts on her campaign site mention Israel: the three above plus the June 2026 debt essay and her August 2026 write-up of the Republican special-election debate ("Second verse, same as the first"), whose Israel mention describes another candidate's answer. In that write-up her own answer on the war in Iran is: "Is it time to end the war in Iran? Yes. Every time we intervene in the Middle East, we make the world less safe for Americans." Read 2026-09-26.
The race
The state's candidate listing for the November 3 general election shows her as the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate, status Active (her listing). Live 5 News reported the four-candidate field: Darline Graham, Annie Andrews, Kasie Whitener and Mark Hackett (Live 5 News, 2026-08-26).
Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them
The Facebook address formerly on her record (https://www.facebook.com/KasieWhitener/) shows "This content isn't available right now". Her campaign site links a different Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579181281284), which opens as "Kasie, South Carolina / Candidate for US Senate".
Not on the card, and why
The July 2025 "Violence is not a Game" post: about Israel's strike on Iran and a senator's post, not about what the United States sends; kept off the front.
The March 2026 post and the August 2026 debate write-up: about Iran and war powers, not about U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel.
The antisemitism line in the March 2026 post: context, never the answer.
The civilian casualty figure in the July 2025 post: not restated here or on the card.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/we-cant-tax-our-way-out-of-this/; opened (published 2026-06-17); 2026-09-26
https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/a-visit-with-some-low-country-republicans/; opened (published 2025-08-07); 2026-09-26
https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/hello-world-1/; opened (published 2025-07-05, modified 2026-07-15); 2026-09-26
https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/do-the-ends-justify-the-means/; opened (published 2026-03-03); 2026-09-26
https://kasiesouthcarolina.com/second-verse-same-as-the-first/; opened (published 2026-08-05); 2026-09-26
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
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