On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports,” Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) argued that President Joe Biden “will go down in history as one of the most, if not the most pro-Russian U.S. president that we’ve ever seen” because of his moves to stop the Keystone pipeline while removing sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Banks also argued that bringing back the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 and pushing for American energy independence should be the first things Biden does to respond to Russia.
Banks said, “History is repeating itself. When Russia invaded Crimea under Barack Obama, there were no repercussions. And we’ve already seen these empty threats and phone calls between Putin and Joe Biden. Remember when the Russian hackers struck the Colonial gas pipeline, it wreaked havoc in America, Joe Biden didn’t do anything about it. And Putin is seeing that this is an opportunity for them to strike again, for them to accomplish many of their goals. And they know that Joe Biden is projecting weakness on the world stage, maybe worse than we’ve ever seen it before. It’s an opportunity for them to strike and not see any repercussions.”
He later added, “[O]ne of the first actions that Joe Biden took when he became president was he stopped construction of the Keystone pipeline. And then he removed sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. It was a very pro-Russia move. In fact, Joe Biden will go down in history as one of the most, if not the most pro-Russian U.S. president that we’ve ever seen. So, Putin is seeing that. He’s seeing Joe Biden play right into his hands and smells an opportunity or weakness to be able to continue down the path of making the world even more dangerous.”
Banks concluded, “[I]f you want to hit them where it hurts, then put the sanctions that Donald Trump had in place that Joe Biden took away on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and put America back in charge of its own energy dependence, making America energy independent once again. That’s what will hit Russia where it hurts. And that’s the first thing that Joe Biden should do tomorrow if he does anything at all.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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