The Republican nominee for Gabby Giffords’ old congressional seat declared this week that he’s willing to let interest rates on student loans double on July 1 because Congress should “deal with the huge problems right now” instead.

Jesse Kelly, who gained notoriety after hosting an M-16 shooting event in 2010 to “remove” Giffords from her seat, was asked on MSNBC Wednesday about student loan interest rates, which are set to double next month. Kelly tepidly said he wanted to fix the interest rates, but then declared that he didn’t want to take up the issue until after Congress had dealt with the Bush tax cuts and the debt ceiling. The solution, according to Kelly, was to let the student loan rates double now, then “deal with that retroactively.”

TODD: First of all, are you in favor of trying to fix the interest rate on student loans so that it does not double?

KELLY: I am in favor of it, but I am in favor of taking care of that after we take care of the most important things right now, which is stopping the Obama tax increases, that’s making sure we don’t increase the debt ceiling without spending concessions. It’s things like that that the Congress needs to be sinking its teeth into right now.

TODD: So you would let it double? Because it’s going to double on July 1st? Let it double now, deal with it later?

KELLY: What I can say is I say the same thing the Speaker of the House is saying right now. Deal with that retroactively, deal with the huge problems right now.

Watch it:

The Bush tax cuts won’t expire until the end of 2012, and we will not hit the debt ceiling until a few months into 2013. If Kelly wants to wait until those other issues are resolved before dealing with student loans, rates could double for at least nine months. In that time, needy students could wind up paying as much as $750 in added interest payments.

Whether or not Kelly gets to put his plan into action will be determined next week. Voters in Arizona’s 8th congressional district will have a special election on Tuesday, June 12 to fill the remainder of Giffords’ term.

With the June 12 special election to fill the Arizona House seat left open by the resignation of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D) fast approaching, the Republican nominee Jesse Kelly has just launched a new attack ad against his Democratic opponent Ron Barber. In the ad and a newly revised section of his campaign website, Kelly highlights his commitment to protecting entitlements for America’s seniors — a commitment that stands in stark contrast to the positions he took in his unsuccessful campaign against Giffords back in 2010 and as recently as last month.

In the ad, Kelly makes a widely-debunked claim that ObamaCare will “cut $500 billion from Medicare.” The legislation aims to achieve $500 billion in Medicare savings, which will extend the life of the program and provide better care.

But after his disclaimer, Kelly and his grandfather Hank Allgyer say:

KELLY: I’m committed to protecting Social Security and Medicare for our seniors.”

ALLGYER: Don’t let Ron Barber cut my benefits, Jesse. I’ve earned them.

KELLY: Don’t worry, Grandpa. I won’t.

ALLGYER: I know you’ll protect us.

Watch the video:

On his website, Kelly says he supports “preserving, protecting and strengthening Social Security and Medicare” and does not support “privatizing, eliminating or phasing out these programs in any way.” He advocates actions to prevent Social Security from “going bankrupt” but lays out five principles that would seemingly prevent any real action to do that:

1. Any solution must be bipartisan
2. I will not vote for any solution that privatizes social security
3. I will not vote for any solution that raises taxes
4. I will not vote for any solution that cuts benefits
5. I will not vote for any solution that raises the retirement age

By ruling out changing the amount of money coming in to the Social Security fund (raising taxes) or the amount going out (cutting benefits or changing the retirement age), he seems to take virtually everything off the table. But he hasn’t always had this view.

The Hill noted that as recently as April 18, his website called for partial privatization of Social Security. His earlier view that “Younger workers should have the choice of allocating a portion of their contribution into a personal retirement account in their name,” is has been completely erased from his positions page.

And, the same article notes, in a 2010 debate, Kelly said the nation must take steps to reform, privatize, and phase out entitlements. “You need to fulfill your promises in the near future while phasing out future generations, taking steps to privatize, vouchers, everything,” he said. “It’s not an option of should it be done. It must be done.”

Kelly, a construction manager and Tea Party favorite, infamously hosted an M16 automatic weapons shooting campaign event to help supporters “get on target” to “help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office,” just months before a gunman went on a shooting spree at a Giffords community event in Tuscon, leaving six dead and a dozen wounded — including both Giffords and Barber. Giffords resigned her seat in January to focus on her recovery.

His issues page has since been changed to remove the phrase “The Second Amendment of the Constitution is not just about hunting. It is about the right of a free people to defend themselves.”

The Kelly website makes no mention of whether the nation has always been at war with Eastasia, but Kelly apparently does not think Arizona voters can remember all the way back to April 2012.