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| Lindsey Graham addresses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as he testifies before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on September 27, 2018. (File photo: AFP) |
WASHINGTON - South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham faced strong opposition from across Washington after calling on the Russian people to end the Ukraine war by assassinating President Vladimir Putin. White House press clerk Jen Psaki said on Friday that was"not the position of the United States government."
Graham, a former Air Force attorney and longtime defense jingoist, twittered late Thursday that"the only people who can fix it"are Russians. "The only way this ends is someone in Russia taking this joe out,"Graham twittered."You'll do your country-and the world-a great service."
The tweet entered nippy rejection from some of Congress's most conservative and liberal members. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz called it"a veritably bad idea."Rep. Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Democratic blamed this week for speaking at an event hosted by a white chauvinist, said Graham's tweets were" reckless, dangerous & unrecoverable."And Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who has faced review over commentary about Israel, twittered"Seriously, wtf?" .On Friday, Psaki dismissed Graham's idea out of control.
"That isn't the position of the United States government and clearly not a statement you'll hear from the mouth of anyone who works in this administration,"he said.
Graham's commentary come at a delicate time for the White House, which is orchestrating a tough Western response to Russia's irruption of Ukraine while trying to avoid direct battle with Russia for fear of sparking a wider war. The Russian chairman's increased position of alert over his country's nuclear munitions raises enterprises that he may be willing to consider the unbelievable step of using them.
The US has ruled out transferring colors to Ukraine and has not agreed to a no- cover zone over Ukraine that could lead to clashes with Russian warplanes. Grim in the war, the White House has asked Congress for$ 10 billion in exigency finances, with the plutocrat used for philanthropic aid and security requirements. Blessing could come as beforehand as coming week. Lawgivers are also pushing for the Biden government to halt canvas significances from Russia, a move that could strain views on the country's decreasingly insulated frugality.
But Graham is alone in pushing for Putin's life trials. Russia's minister to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, called his commentary" inferior and outrageous." Graham was perplexed in a Fox News appearance Friday morning, saying that the stylish way to end the fighting was to have"Eliot Ness or Wyatt Earp"in Russia, in reference to well- known American law enforcement numbers."I believe it's a one- man problem girdled by several people,"Graham said.
Also on Friday, Graham introduced a resolution with a bipartisan group of legislators calling for Putin to be held responsible for his conduct in Ukraine, including the war crimes disquisition. Graham and his Senate associates will have the occasion to speak directly to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday in a videotape call, according to a person familiar with the assignation from the Ukrainian delegacy.
All legislators were invited to the call, according to the person, who requested obscurity to bandy private assignations. The meeting will be the first time US lawgivers have spoken to the Ukrainian chairman since Russia raided his country.