Sen. Lindsey Graham hits with bipartisan criticism after calling for Putin’s assassination

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hard to talk with your foot in your mouth

Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) has been the target of strong criticism on both sides of the aisle after his Thursday call for a Russian “Brutus” to “take this guy out” — “this guy” being Russian President Vladimir Putin — went viral.

The only people who can fix this are the Russian people. Easy to say, hard to do. 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.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 4, 2022

“You would be doing your country — and the world — a great service,” Graham wrote on Twitter on Thursday, amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier that night, Graham said almost exactly the same thing during an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program.

“This is an exceptionally bad idea,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) later said of Graham’s suggestion. “We should not be calling for the assassination of heads of state.”

This is an exceptionally bad idea. 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. https://t.co/crPGHw9xyJ

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 4, 2022

“Seriously, wtf?” added Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)

I really wish our members of Congress would cool it and regulate their remarks as the administration works to avoid WWlll. As the world pays attention to how the US and it’s leaders are responding, Lindsey’s remarks and remarks made by some House members aren’t helpful.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 4, 2022

Even firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wants Graham to cool it.

While we are all praying for peace & for the people of Ukraine, this is irresponsible, dangerous & unhinged.We need leaders with calm minds & steady wisdom.Not blood thirsty warmongering politicians trying to tweet tough by demanding assassinations.Americans don’t want war. https://t.co/l2hqiUbZGv

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) March 4, 2022

I have reached out to Twitter to see whether they plan on taking any action on Lindsey Graham’s tweet calling for the assassination of Vladimir Putin and if it violates the platform’s rules. https://t.co/HcQm9GY40n

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 4, 2022

We are seeing a lot of reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous commentary right now. Really time for Republicans to step away from the failed foreign policy figures — and their failed and costly ideas and mismanagement — of recent decades. https://t.co/U84hJ06Paz

— Mollie (@MZHemingway) March 4, 2022

This guy was the chief apologist and enabler for an autocrat who called Putin a genius on the eve of invasion and sided with Putin over US intelligence over his assault on American democracy https://t.co/4oRbBNKAFg

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 4, 2022

The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, also joined in denouncing Graham’s apparent call to action, writing Friday that, “It is impossible to believe that a senator of a country that promotes its moral values ​​as a ‘guiding star’ for all mankind could afford to call for terrorism as a way to achieve Washington’s goals in the international arena.”

Even with the backlash, however, don’t expect Graham to drop the rhetoric just yet. A person familiar with Graham’s thinking told The Wall Street Journal that the senator isn’t likely “to tone down his language in the face of criticism, either from his colleagues in Congress or from Russia,” the Journal writes.

That said, journalist Aaron Rupar shared a clip from Graham on Fox News Friday morning, in which the senator calls for Putin’s arrest rather than his assassination, as Rupar points out.

Lindsey Graham has toned down his comments from calling for Putin to be taken out repeatedly last night to calling for his arrest this morning on Fox & Friends pic.twitter.com/OKJBJdsmmR

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 4, 2022

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