Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tore into his own caucus Tuesday.
Kinzinger slammed the House Republicans’ official Twitter account for calling President Biden weak following his administration’s new sanctions against Russia.
Mere hours later, Putin launched a land, sea and air invasion of Ukraine.
This is what weakness on the world stage looks like. pic.twitter.com/0Krq48gbIy
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) February 22, 2022
Kinzinger called the tweet, “damn awful.”
The Hill adds:
On Tuesday, Biden announced U.S. sanctions against Russian elites and their relatives, sovereign debt and two financial institutions in response to the Russian invasion into eastern Ukraine. He also announced that he authorized more U.S. troops to be moved to three European nations to bolster the eastern flank of NATO.
Many Republicans criticized Biden for his “first tranche” of sanctions, saying, even before Russia’s full-scale invasion, he should have gone farther to isolate Russia from the global economy.
Outside of GOP circles, NBC News published an op-ed by Daniel R. DePetris at Defense Priorities, scrutinizing his attempt to stop the rapidly escalating situation from getting out of control.
According to DePetris, Biden’s financial penalties for Russia and military aid for Ukraine wouldn’t be enough to dissuade Putin:
But the Kremlin most likely has been expecting the U.S. response to include stronger economic sanctions, which means Putin’s government may be better prepared for them. Putin knows that the harshest possible sanctions the U.S. and its European allies could take – kicking Moscow out of the SWIFT banking system – is not an option given the blowback it would mean for Europe’s own economies. Russia’s $630 billion in foreign reserves could also cushion any sanctions Washington and Europe implement, at least for a time.
Similarly, improving Ukraine’s defenses is unlikely to change Russia’s calculus. Since reports emerged of a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine’s border, Washington has flown planeloads of military equipment into Ukraine, including anti-tank and bunker-buster missiles, ammunition and artillery shells, signaling to Moscow that military action would be a costly endeavor.
Despite the influx of modern weaponry, Russia continued to hold a decisive military advantage over Ukraine and has a greater tolerance for military casualties than the West.
Kinzinger maintains that Republicans “can criticize Biden’s policy but this is insane and feeds into Putin’s narrative.”
As still “technically” a member of house Republicans, let me, with all my might, condemn this damn awful tweet during this crisis. You can criticize policy but this is insane and feeds into Putins narrative. But hey, retweets amirite? https://t.co/1b22DGMENl
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) February 22, 2022
