Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) rebuked his fellow Republican colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (SC) for calling on the assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, Graham lit the internet ablaze when he called for a Russian “Brutus” – a reference to famed Julius Caesar assassin Marcus Brutus – to take out Putin, an apparent call for his assassination.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” tweeted Graham. “You would be doing your country–and the world–a great service.”
Graham then called upon the Russian people to rise up against Putin, lest they should “live in darkness” for the rest of their lives.
“The only people who can fix this are the Russian people. Easy to say, hard to do,” he continued. “Unless you want to live in darkness for the rest of your life, be isolated from the rest of the world in abject poverty, and live in darkness, you need to step up to the plate.”
Graham’s tweet sparked heavy criticism on social media from both the left and the right, who charged the assassination of Putin could not only spark a full-scale war with Russia but could destabilize the country into losing control of its nuclear stockpile.
“This is an exceptionally bad idea. Use massive economic sanctions; BOYCOTT Russian oil & gas; and provide military aid so the Ukrainians can defend themselves. But we should not be calling for the assassination of heads of state,” responded Ted Cruz.
Cruz was not the only one to hit back against Graham.
Graham and McFaul are not the only ones openly calling for Putin’s assassination. National Security journalist Eli Lake would like to see a Nobel awarded to Putin’s assassins:
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.