A Thursday tweet from Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia?” asked Senator Graham, referring to the Roman famous for assassinating Roman Emperor Julius Caesar.
“Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” Stauffenberg was the Nazi officer who made a failed attempt to assassinate Nazi leader Adolph Hitler.
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” added Graham. “You would be doing your country – and the world – a great service.”
Daily Kos writer Joan McCarter said, “Maybe not such a helpful thing for a senior U.S. elected official to be putting out into the world right now.”
Molly Jong-Fast, who writes for Vogue and The Atlantic, chimed in with, “Probably not the most responsible thing for a U.S. Senator to tweet.”
It’s not unusual for liberal or progressive media members to criticize Republican elected officials but Graham probably didn’t expect to take heat from fellow party members.
Yet, he has faced criticism from party stalwarts like Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Florida Representative Matt Gaetz.
“This is an exceptionally bad idea,” Senator Cruz said in a Friday Twitter post. “Use massive economic sanctions; Boycott Russian oil and gas; and provide military aid so the Ukrainians can defend themselves”
“But, we should not be calling for the assassination of heads of state.”
The Florida representative sarcastically asked, in a Twitter post, “When has Sen. Graham encouraging regime change ever ended badly?”
According to a report in “The Seattle Times”, Graham has supported the removal of dictators from in Iraq, Libya, and crucial U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. Now, he seems to have set his sights on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Even Fox News host Laura Ingraham pounded Graham for his tweet.
“Is there any intel, that you know of, that Putin’s days are numbered?” asked the Fox host Thursday. “I know Lindsey Graham earlier tonight tweeted that basically someone needs to ‘take him out,’ or maybe I’m paraphrasing.”
“But he’s basically [saying] someone should assassinate Putin.”
Ingraham declared she did not know why a sitting U.S. senator would tweet something like that.
“It seems really dangerous and stupid to say that,” Ingraham said. “And, we like Lindsey Graham, but that’s just a stupid comment.”
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