Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that it would be “dumber than dirt” for China to give lethal support to Russia for the Ukraine war.
Anchor Martha Raddatz said, “I want to turn to China. The U.S. says it does not have a spy balloon program, but given what has happened, are you worried that China has surpassed the U.S. in this so-called near space?”
Graham said, “You know, I’m trying to help the administration. Listen. I like Tony Blinken, but the response about the balloon was slow. The Chinese are lying. It’s not a weather balloon. It’s a spy balloon. We need to deal with that, but what Secretary Blinken said is big news to me. He believes that the Chinese are on the verge of providing lethal weapons to Putin. Now if that happens, the world needs to come down on China because if you believe as I do, and the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris believes, that Russia is engaged in crimes against humanity in Ukraine, any country that comes to their aid should pay a heavy price.”
He added, “So that’s why we should designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism because if you do that under U.S. law, and China provides lethal weapons, they will get sanctioned. To the Chinese, if you jump on the Putin train now, you’re dumber than dirt. It would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after you saw the movie. Don’t do this. The most catastrophic thing that could happen to U.S./China relationship, in my opinion, is for China to give lethal weapons to Putin in this crime against humanity. That would change everything forever.”
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