During an appearance on FNC’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) blamed “weakness” on display from the Biden administration for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance on Ukraine.
The Wisconsin Republican also referred to the first Trump impeachment, which he said weakened the United States on the Ukraine issue in the eyes of Putin.
“Well, my concern is, the response of the West in total will be too little, too late,” Johnson said. “But let’s make no mistake about it. There’s one group of people that is responsible for these atrocities. That’s Vladimir Putin and the cronies that surround him, the kleptocracy of Russia. But let’s give a shout-out to President Zelensky, proving himself to be a man of enormous courage enormous leadership, the Ukrainian people. I urge all of your listeners, pray for President Zelensky, pray for the Ukrainian people, who are just wanting to live in peace and freedom.”
“But I think we do need to take a look at what all led up to this. I don’t think Vladimir Putin would have moved on Ukraine were it not for the weakness displayed certainly by the Biden administration, but also by the West in general,” he continued. “And I’m certainly hoping that Colonel Vindman, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, who used Ukraine as a pawn in their impeachment travesty, are also recognizing, reflecting on how they weakened Ukraine, weakened the West, weakened America by the divisive politics that they played.”
“There’s much blame to go around. But in terms of the atrocities, that falls squarely on the shoulders of Vladimir Putin and his cronies,” Johnson added. “They have to be pariahs from now on. They can never reenter the world stage as anything other than pariahs and war criminals.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor