During an appearance on FNC’s “Sunday Night in America,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said he backed President Donald Trump’s proposed 100% on countries willing to aid Russia by buying its cheap oil.
According to the South Carolina GOP lawmaker, those nations would have to make a choice: between supporting the American economy and helping Russian President Vladimir Putin.
You’ve been preaching sanctions for Russia for a long time,” FNC host Trey Gowdy said. “Some on the right said, don’t help Ukraine. Some on the right said bombing Iran would lead to World War III, which it did not. How do you see the current state of war in both Ukraine and the Middle East?”
Graham replied, “Well, the bombing action by President Trump to help Israel has really degraded Iran’s nuclear capability. Here’s the way I see the world: The Ayatollah in Iran is a religious Nazi. He’s been hurt bad between us and Israel. His nuclear ambitions have been obliterated, but not completely destroyed, and you’ve got to watch him. So he wants to kill all the Jews, purify Islam and come after us. Putin wants to recreate the former Soviet Union, the Russian Empire. He wants to take countries that are not his. In the mid-90s, Ukraine gave up 1,700 nuclear weapons with a promise that their sovereignty would be respected by Russia. Putin broke that promise. He’s not going to stop until somebody makes him stop.”
“So Trump has been tough on Iran, who is incredibly dangerous, but they’re in a weakened state, and Putin, your turn is coming,” he continued. “You know, Donald Trump is the Scottie Scheffler of American politics and foreign diplomacy, and he is about to put a whooping on your ass. What’s going to happen here is that Trump is going to impose tariffs on people that buy Russian oil — China, India and Brazil — those three countries buy about 80% of cheap Russian oil. That’s what keeps Putin’s war machine going. So President Trump is going to put a hundred percent tariff on all of those countries, punishing them for helping Putin. Putin can live through sanctions. He could give a damn about Russian soldiers, but China, India and Brazil, they’re about to face a choice between the American economy or helping Putin, and I think they’re going to come pick the American economy.”
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