White House rejects US senator’s call to assassinate Putin. The White House said Friday (March 4) that the Biden administration does not advocate regime change in Russia. Earlier, a US senator called on the Russians to assassinate President Vladimir Putin.
White House rejects US senator’s call to assassinate Putin
In response to a question from VOA, White House press secretary Saki told reporters, “This is not the position of the U.S. government, and certainly not a statement from anyone who has worked for this administration.”
Republican Senator Graham of South Carolina suggested in a televised interview Thursday night that “someone in Russia” should assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Graham repeated the statement in a TV interview on Fox News on Friday.
“How is this going to end? Someone in Russia has to come forward … get rid of this guy,” Graham told Fox News TV anchor Hannity on Thursday.
After the TV interview, Graham tweeted, “The only people who can fix this are the Russian people.”
“Does Russia have Brutus? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian army?” the senator wrote. Brutus assassinated the Roman ruler Julius Caesar; the German officer Colonel Stauffenberg planned to assassinate the German leader Hitler in July 1944 but failed.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., called Graham’s comments “unacceptable and outrageous” and showed that the U.S. hates Russia more than one might imagine.
He asked for “an official explanation and a strong condemnation of this criminal claim.”
U.S. senators, both Democrats and Republicans, criticized Graham’s comments.
Republican Senator Cruz of Texas called Graham’s proposal “a very bad idea,” while Rep. Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, tweeted, “Is it true?”
Graham once introduced a bill in Congress condemning Putin and his military commanders for committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in Ukraine.
