On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street,” House Minority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) stated that President Joe Biden’s sanctions against Russia have been late reactions after allowing “Putin to move for months” and denying Ukraine defense systems while allowing Putin to make billions off of oil that he otherwise wouldn’t have due to Biden’s energy policies.
Scalise said, “First of all, it’s always been after the fact. He’s allowed Putin to move for months to this point. Everybody saw this coming. He could have taken steps a long time ago. Ukraine was asking for some basic defense systems — surface-to-air missiles, for example — so they could at least protect themselves better. He denied that. There were other things that he denied. But most importantly, Maria, if you wanted to put real sanctions on Putin, take away the leverage that he has with energy. Joe Biden took American energy off the map as a tool to help our allies, to help our own country too. And so, if you look today, with prices over $100 a barrel, Putin’s pocketing tens of billions of dollars that he otherwise would not have had. Because of Biden’s weak energy agenda at home.”
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