Wednesday, during an appearance on FNC’s Hannity, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) reacted to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress earlier in the day.
Kennedy credited the embattled Zelensky for standing up to Russian invaders and declaring him ” the free world leader.”
The Louisiana Republican also called on President Joe Biden to adopt an “all-of-the-above energy policy” as a way to weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Well, I’d make a couple of points, Sean,” Kennedy said. “First, I think it’s clear that the leader of the free world is President Zelensky. He and the Ukrainian people are tough as a boot, and we need to have their back. Point two, I think it’s important when we do something right to acknowledge it. The West’s sanctions on Russia’s central bank has hurt Putin and brought him to his knees, but it’s hurting. So I suppose you could say President Biden has gotten it right once in a row. Point three, the rest of President Biden’s economic response to the invasion and military response invasion to the invasion, in my judgment, has been a wimp fest.”
“Let’s take it, first, militarily, President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people are holding their own on the ground,” he continued. “They need air cover. Today, President Zelensky said, can you please help me get planes? Can you please help me get surface-to-air missiles? I’m not asking for American planes or pilots or troops. Help me with your allies. President Biden’s response is the same as it always is: I’ll get back to you in three to five business days, and he never gets back.”
“Well, I was just going to say the final point I would make, you know, unless you — unless you’re still living with your parents, you understand that you can’t put Putin on his knees without cutting off his cash flow and you can’t cut off his cash flow without cutting off his oil and gas,” Kennedy added. “And a lot of our allies say, well, we have to buy his oil and gas, where are we going to get it? Well, the obvious answer is the United States, except for one problem, the woker darlings and the Democratic Party will not allow President Biden to adopt an all-of-the-above energy policy, which includes oil and gas, and the president just doesn’t seem to have the courage to stand up to them.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor