Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday stood by his previous call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be assassinated or otherwise removed from power.
At a press conference at the Capitol, the South Carolina Republican was asked about a tweet in which he suggested Putin should be assassinated.
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“I think the world is better off without Putin,” Graham said. “The sooner the better. And I don’t care how we do it.”
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Graham argued he doesn’t care if Putin is assassinated or tried for war crimes at the Hague, but he said, “It’s time for him to go.”
“I wish somebody had taken Hitler out in the ’30s,” Graham said, adding that Putin is “not a legitimate leader.”
Graham said Putin should be “dealt with” by the Russian people who have been victimized by his regime, stressing, “I’m not asking to set American ground forces in Ukraine to fight the Russian army.”
“I am asking the Russian people to rise up and end this Reign of Terror for you and the world at large,” he said. “If you follow Putin, you’re going to have zero future.”
He added that he believes his friend, the late Sen. John McCain, would agree with him were he still in the Senate.
Graham delivered the remarks at a press conference urging the Biden administration to facilitate the transfer of aircraft, such as MiG-29s, and air defense systems to Ukraine.
“Maybe never in the history of warfare has 28 planes meant so much to so many,” Graham said.
Elsewhere in the press conference, Graham said he agrees with the Biden administration not to implement a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, but he said he feels the country should be equipped to enforce its own.
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Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his call for a no-fly zone in an address to Congress.
