As President Joe Biden heads to Brussels for a NATO summit, Sen. Lindsey Graham said a strong message must be sent that there will be severe consequences should Russian President Vladimir Putin decide to use chemical weapons within Ukraine.
When asked about different U.S. presidents’ approaches to war, Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told Fox News’s Sean Hannity that Biden’s approach is not working.
“Here’s what’s not working, the ‘Biden Doctrine,’ which is to withdraw completely from Afghanistan, leave the place abandoned, give up Bagram Air Base, and allow the Taliban to be back in power 20 years after 9/11 with ISIS and al Qaeda growing in strength inside Afghanistan,” Graham said. ”He is not deterring Putin from destroying the great people of the Ukraine … He is not deterring China from being provocative in Asia, and he’s about to do a deal with the religious Nazi called the Ayatollah.”
Graham said the NATO summit can either be “a disaster, or it can be a resounding success” depending on what kind of message Russia and China get.
“If NATO will tell Putin with clarity, ‘If you use chemical weapons, we will establish a no-fly zone. If you explode a nuclear device inside Ukraine, we’ll consider that an attack on NATO itself because the radiation will flow throughout Europe,’” Graham insisted. “And tell China right now, before it’s too late, that if you keep giving aid to Putin, we will sanction you, and here are the sanctions.”
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The South Carolina Republican said the U.S. response has been too slow.
“Biden has not been all-in. He assumed that Putin would win and the Ukraine would lose, and he can’t embrace the idea the Ukraine can win. I embrace it,” Graham said.
Graham added that, in his mind, Ukraine does not need to repay the aid that has been provided to it.
“The Ukrainian people have paid back the whole freaking world by standing up to this thug, Putin, and standing up for democracy against a dictator,” Graham said. “Let’s get tough with this guy. If NATO is not clear about what we will do regarding chemical weapons and the use of nuclear weapons, the summit will be a failure.”
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Hannity also asked Graham, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is questioning Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as part of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, if the senator will vote against confirming Jackson.
Graham would not commit to an answer but told Hannity to stay tuned.
