Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) appeared on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos Sunday morning. He was walking along the sharp edge of a political knife. One on side, he condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine. Yet on the other side, he is a big Donald Trump fan, and the ex-president praised the Russian president.
Cotton told the ABC host:
‘George, if you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic, I’d encourage you to invite him on your show. I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.’
Then, he added that the ex-president said Putin was a “genius” and “savvy.” He repeated that praise during an interview with the conservative radio program, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show. And on Saturday night he went for the Trifecta at the Conservative Political Action Conference (C-PAC), Trump came down hard on Putin’s invasion, however he also attacked our leaders:
‘The problem is not that Putin is smart, which of course he’s smart. But the real problem is that our leaders are dumb.’
The ABC host grilled Cotton, even as the former senator remained firmly against Putin. At the same time he would not criticize the ex-president’s comments:
‘You’re a senior member of the Republican Party. Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. [Trump “suggested” Saturday night he would run for president again]. When Fox News asked him if he had a message from Vladimir Putin, he said he has no message.’
The host continued to press the Arkansas senator:
‘Why can’t you condemn that? I feel quite confident that if Donald — that if Barack Obama or Joe Biden said something like that, you’d be first in line to criticize them.’
Cotton, who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, doubled down:
‘Again, George, if you want to talk to the former president about his views or his message, you can have him on your show. My message to Vladimir Putin is quite clear: He needs to leave Ukraine unless he wants to face moms and teenagers with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers and grandfathers with AK-47s for years to come.’
Stephanopoulos followed up again:
‘I simply don’t understand why you can’t condemn his praise of Vladimir Putin.’
The senator deftly avoided the question:
‘George, again, I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians, they can all speak for themselves. I’m delivering my message to you, which I said has been clear, whether Barack Obama was president, whether Donald Trump was president, and now whether Joe Biden was president, that Vladimir Putin has been a ruthless dictator for years. Too many people have not taken the threat seriously. And that’s why you see the images we see in Ukraine now. And where we need to focus is on stopping that aggression, supporting the Ukrainians as best we can.’
Cotton continued, urging people to “do more:”
‘But we can do more than prayers and hashtags and lighting up buildings, George. It’s time for the president and some of our European partners to quit pussyfooting around. The financial sanctions announced last night are riddled with loopholes.’
Putin announced he had ordered his people to “put Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces in a state of heightened readiness.” He said it was after NATO countries’ “aggressive statements:”
‘It’s time to remove all Russian financial institutions from the international payment system. It’s time to impose sanctions on his oil and gas exports which he uses as his primary means of financial support. We need to rush those weapons that were announced for delivery yesterday to the front: anti-tank, anti-aircraft missiles, sniper rifles ammunition, fuel supplies, it should have been done weeks ago so better later than never but the Ukrainians have no time.’
The senator said NATO was slow to act, “but the Ukrainians have no time.”
Three White Lions is Gloria Christie’s new serialized book available in episodes on Amazon. Go to Kindle Vella and insert her name. She also writes for the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
