Washington: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is facing intense pushback from all corners of Washington after calling for the Russian people to end the Ukraine war by assassinating President Vladimir Putin. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that it is “not the position of the United States government.”
Graham, a former Air Force lawyer and longtime defense hawk, tweeted Thursday evening that “the only people who can fix this” are Russians. “The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” Graham tweeted. “You would be doing your country - and the world - a great service.”
The tweet drew swift pushback from some of the most conservative and liberal members of Congress. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called it “an exceptionally bad idea.” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who was denounced this week for speaking at an event organized by a white nationalist, said Graham’s tweet was “irresponsible, dangerous & unhinged.” And Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who has faced criticism over comments about Israel, tweeted: “Seriously, wtf?”
On Friday, Psaki dismissed Graham’s idea out of hand. “That is not the position of the United States government and certainly not a statement you’d hear come from the mouth of anybody working in this administration,” she said.
Graham’s comment comes at a fraught time for the White House, which is orchestrating a tough Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while trying to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia for fear of triggering a broader war. The Russian president’s raising of the alert level on his country’s nuclear weapons stirred fears that he may be willing to consider the unthinkable step of using them.