House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy scolded fellow Republican Rep.Madison Cawthornon Friday for previously calling Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyya “thug” —a viral commentCawthorn’s office has subsequently clarified.
“Madison is wrong,” McCarthy told reporters Friday at a news briefing. “If there’s any thug in this world, it’s Putin.”
McCarthy, 57, pointed out reported attacks on civilians inside a theater and at a maternity ward as evidence of Russian PresidentVladimir Putin’s illegal actions in his country’swar in Ukraine.
“This is atrocious. This is wrong. This is the aggressor,” McCarthy said. “This is the one that needs to end this war. This is the one that everybody should unite against.”
(The Kremlinhas taken umbrageat attacks on Putin’s character, including the “unforgivable” label of “war criminal.")
Rep. Madison Cawthorn.Zuma/SplashNews.com
“Remember that Zelenskyy is a thug. Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt, and it is incredibly evil, and it has been pushing woke ideologies,” Cawthorn said.
A spokesman for Cawthorn did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment earlier this week but clarified the freshman lawmaker’s remarks in a statement toTheWashington Post.
“The Congressman was expressing his displeasure at how foreign leaders, including Zelensky, had recently used false propaganda to entice America into becoming involved in an overseas conflict,” Luke Ball said. “He supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian President’s efforts to defend their country against Russian aggression, but does not want America drawn into another conflict through emotional manipulation.”
NBC News Foreign Correspondent Raf Sanchez sharedvideo footage of a Russian-language segmentfeaturing North Carolina’s Cawthorn. “That got played over and over,” he said.
McCarthy isn’t the first Republican to denounce Cawthorn for insulting Zelenskyy.
Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, also reminded Cawthorn that Putin was the one who chose to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24 and referred to him as “an actual murderous thug,” thePostreported.
On Twitter, Cawthorn has been adamant in criticizing Russia and Putin (he called their actions “disgusting” a week ago) while also expressing support for Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian people’s resilience in the face of Russian aggression has inspired the world. The commitment they have shown to the preservation of their sovereign nation is extraordinary,“he wrote Wednesday.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy.Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
But rather than mentioning Zelenskyy, who’s receivedmuch credit from around the globefor his efforts to inspire his people through an invasion, Cawthorn has consistently taken a stand against U.S. military action in the conflict.
(President Biden, who referred to Putin as a “war criminal” this week, has repeatedly said the U.S. will make every attempt to avoid war with Russia.)
“America must, however, not entangle itself in another war or act in a manner that endangers the lives of American soldiers,” he wrote in afollow-up tweetWednesday. “A war with Russia does not further the interests of America or the national security of the United States.”
The fighting in Ukraine continues some three weeks after Russian forces launched their large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
More than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since the fighting began, the United Nations says.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
