MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ridiculed anyone in the Biden administration who views punishing sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime in response to his war on Ukraine as being too harsh.
Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who now co-hosts Morning Joe, said President Joe Biden’s most recent predecessors, including George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, have erred when they “tried to give Vladimir Putin the benefit of the doubt” and listed some examples.
“We have time and time and time again underestimated Vladimir Putin,” Scarborough said. “So if there is anybody in the White House right now concerned that these sanctions may be too tough on a guy who is committing war crimes every day and every night in Ukraine, you know what? Wipe that dust off of your jacket, off of your shoulder. That’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Scarborough said there needs to be a better understanding of how Putin “looks at the world,” adding that the Russian leader feels “hemmed in by NATO.”
“We have to help Vladimir Putin get out of the corner?” Scarborough asked rhetorically. “We have to work with him to provide an off-ramp? He doesn’t want that. He wants to reconstitute the Soviet Union.”
.@JoeNBC: “This idea that sanctions may be too tough on Putin…please, if you’re thinking that, do your country and the Ukrainian people a favor and leave the White House today…” pic.twitter.com/KbD8cO9Vjp
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) March 4, 2022
Scarborough said even though Putin doesn’t want an off-ramp made available to him, “we need to continue engaging actively and always be willing to work with him.”
“But this idea that sanctions may be too tough on Vladimir Putin … please, if you’re thinking that, do your country and do the Ukrainian people a favor, and you know what? Turn in your badge, and leave the White House today,” Scarborough said, “because you are doing a grave disservice to the people of Ukraine, to our allies, and NATO — to Americans who still believe that this country, the United States of America, remains the indispensable nation when it comes to [helping] secure freedoms across the globe.”
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Countries around the world, including the United States, have condemned Moscow’s invasion and have unleashed a wave of new sanctions on Russia. Although they aren’t sending troops to fight for Ukraine, over the past couple of days, President Joe Biden and other world leaders have authorized tens of millions of dollars in additional military support for Ukrainian forces and sent reinforcements into NATO countries as a precaution.
