EXCLUSIVE: Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took “the Chinese position” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine when the potential Republican contender for 2024 called the war a “territorial dispute.”
During an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, the South Carolina lawmaker and military veteran was asked if he was concerned about the current front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination — DeSantis, who is expected to make a White House bid announces, and former President Donald Trump, who has already done so – both are more skeptical about the current level of US aid to Ukraine than more established members of their party.
“Governor DeSantis, who I respect, basically takes the Chinese position on the Russian invasion,” Graham said.
“China is calling this a territorial dispute. This is not a territorial dispute. This is an invasion of a sovereign democracy [Vladimir Putin’s] Russia, barbaric in nature.”
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Sen. Lindsey Graham is among the most vocal supporters of continued US aid to Ukraine in Congress (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
He added that DeSantis “has a lot to be proud of as governor,” but said, “I think any Republican who goes the Biden route and tries to weaken in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is inviting more aggression.” “
Graham said of Trump, whom he has already endorsed for 2024: “If he were president again — I really believe Putin wouldn’t have invaded under his watch — but I’ve told President Trump that if you don’t see a connection between China chasing Taiwan and Russia invading Ukraine are not watching you very closely.
DeSantis, in response to a Tucker Carlson questionnaire, said that “further involvement in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” was not “vital” to US interests. He argued, “The Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as necessary’ with no defined goals or accountability is a distraction from our country’s most pressing challenges.”
He also accused President Joe Biden of “propelling Russia into a de facto alliance with China” and “bolstering Putin’s war machine” with his renewable energy policies. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DeSantis office for comment.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the current level of US support for Ukraine is not “vital” to American interests. ((Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images))
Beijing has not taken an open public stance towards Ukraine. But Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised alarms within the global community amid fears that China may start arming Russia.
In the US, there is a growing rift within the GOP between those who are growing tired of watching the federal government send billions in foreign aid and more mainstream members of the party who argue that helping Ukraine fend off the illegal Invasion of Russia is vital to maintain international stability.
Graham, one of the loudest voices in Congress for more aid to Kiev, said it was the US’s duty to “unmask” Xi and Putin ahead of their upcoming meeting.
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(Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will meet later this month. Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
“China is a communist dictatorship. Putin is one of the most notorious foreign criminals of the 21st century,” Graham said. “It’s kind of an axis of evil when you throw Iran in there.”
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“But what I would do is just really put pressure on China not to help Russia militarily because that goes as far as war. And I would describe Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism – that makes it harder for China to help Russia.”
Graham went a step further in the interview, vowing that, in the face of the latest war crimes indictments against Putin by the International Criminal Court, he would “continue business as before” until Russia was declared a terrorist state.
“I’m going to go all out, shut down the usual business in the Senate, to make it clear that we…must designate Russia as a sponsor of terrorism under US law,” the senator said. “It would make Putin’s Russian state radioactive – more so than it is today. It would put him in the category of … Iran, Syria, North Korea.”
Source : www.foxnews.com