Lindsey Graham Rebukes Republican's Putin Remarks

In an interview appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation on Sunday, Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, rebuked Senator Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, over remarks he made regarding Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Host Margaret Brennan played Graham a clip of a recent appearance by Tuberville on Steve Bannon's War Room where the senator said Russian President Vladimir Putin "doesn't want Ukraine and doesn't want Europe."

"He's got enough land of his own," Tuberville told Bannon. "He just wants to make sure he does not have U.S. weapons in Ukraine pointed at Moscow."

Brennan also said that Tuberville called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator and unconstitutional." She asked Graham if his colleague's comments represented all Republicans and if he's echoing "Russian talking points."

Graham firmly responded, "No, it represents him and him alone. If you spend 15 minutes studying Putin and what he wants, he wants to recreate the Russian Empire. He's not going to stop in Ukraine. It's not about NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization], it's not about American weapons in Ukraine, it's about a megalomaniac wanting to create the Russian Empire by force of arms."

He added: "...Senator Tuberville's analysis really misses what Putin's all about. He's an outlier, I think, in the Republican Party. I like him personally."

Newsweek emailed Graham's office and reached out to Tuberville's office via a contact form on his webpage. This article will be updated with any provided comments.

The South Carolina senator is among the U.S. envoy, along with President Joe Biden, that has been in France this week honoring the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. On Sunday, Graham said D-Day "was a failure" as he alluded to a quote from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill that called World War II the "unnecessary war."

"It was the 'unnecessary war' as described by Winston Churchill. We had a dozen chances to stop Hitler," Graham said.

Zelensky and Biden have been strong allies since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. On Friday, before a bilateral meeting with Biden in Paris, Zelenksy thanked the president and his administration for their "significant support" during the war. In April, Biden signed a foreign aid package into law that includes nearly $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.

Graham stressed that helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia could also have strategic economic benefits for the U.S. and Western countries.

"They're sitting on 10-12 trillion dollars of critical minerals in Ukraine. They could be the richest country in all of Europe. We don't want to give that money and assets to Putin to share with China," he told Brennan on Sunday. "If we help Ukraine now, they could become the best business partner we ever dreamed of They're sitting on a goal mine. To give Putin 10-12 trillion that he will share with China is ridiculous."

In Sunday's interview, Graham also said he told Zelensky in a meeting earlier this week that he supports U.S. forces training inside the country. He said there is a chance, now, for Ukraine and its allies to "reset the war." The senator also called for the U.S. to make Russia an official state sponsor of terrorism, which he said, made Zelensky light up "like a Christmas tree."

"We've got a chance to reset this war now that they have the weapons. Here's what he [Zelensky] wanted most of all, for us to go after the Russian assets all over the world, take the money from the sovereign wealth funds of Russia and give it to Ukraine," Graham said.

He continued: "There's $300 billion sitting in Europe from Russian sovereign wealth, assets that we should seize and give to Ukraine. We have Russian money in America we should seize. We should make Russia a state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law. When I suggested that to President Zelensky, he lit up like a Christmas tree. Making Russia a state sponsor of U.S.- state sponsor of terrorism under U.S. law would be a very big blow to Russia."

Newsweek emailed the U.S. Department of State and the Kremlin Sunday afternoon for comment.

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