Sen. Lindsey Graham faces bipartisan condemnation after calling on Russians to assassinate Putin
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‘This is an exceptionally bad idea,’ Ted Cruz said.
(LifeSiteNews) – Moderate Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina came under bipartisan mockery Wednesday for expressing a desire to see Russian President Vladimir Putin assassinated, a comment seen as monumentally reckless for a member of the United States government to make in public.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia?” tweeted Graham, a prominent voice in American foreign policy discussions. “Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.”
The only people who can fix this are the Russian people.
Easy to say, hard to do.
Unless you want to live in darkness for the rest of your life, be isolated from the rest of the world in abject poverty, and live in darkness you need to step up to the plate.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 4, 2022
While Graham is not a member of the executive branch and would have no role in facilitating such a mission, many argued that any comment to that effect from any government official would further inflame tensions between the United States and Russia, and at worst cast suspicion on the U.S. in the hypothetical event that Putin does meet an untimely demise.
Graham was met with disapproval and mockery from across the political spectrum:
This is an exceptionally bad idea.
Use massive economic sanctions; BOYCOTT Russian oil & gas; and provide military aid so the Ukrainians can defend themselves.
But we should not be calling for the assassination of heads of state. https://t.co/crPGHw9xyJ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 4, 2022