Kevin McCarthy slams Biden's handling of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, argues help should have come 'sooner'
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., argues the U.S. should have supplied weapons to Ukraine 'sooner' and slams President Biden’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the acres of weapons that were left behind.
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., explained on Sunday the two reasons he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he described as "reckless, evil and dangerous," has raised the alert status for his nuclear forces to "special regime of combat duty" as Russia continues to invade Ukraine.
McCarthy told "Sunday Morning Futures" that he believes one reason is "because this war is not going well" and Putin is "being painted into a corner and he wants to be a stronger hand to try to negotiate a way out."
He went on to argue that the second reason is because Putin is "unstable."
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"At this moment in time, no country in the world should stand with Putin," McCarthy stressed. "Everyone should unite around the basis of what he just claimed to take in just the last hours."
McCarthy made the comments after Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military's General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a "special regime of combat duty." The move signals tensions could boil over into a nuclear war.
"He is right now threatening a nuclear escalation," said former DIA intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler. "This a veiled threat – or maybe such a veiled threat - he just met with his chief of general staff and minister of defense. He is escalating the conflict into the nuclear domain in order to de-escalate – that is topple Kyiv’s regime quickly."
Putin spoke at a meeting Sunday with his top advisers and said NATO powers had made "aggressive statements" and that the West was imposing hard-hitting financial sanctions against Russia and himself.
"Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country," Putin said in televised comments.
Putin warned last week that countries who interfere with his invasion of Ukraine will face "consequences you have never seen."
On Sunday, McCarthy told host Maria Bartiromo that President Biden should have supplied weapons to Ukraine earlier.
"I had this conversation with President Biden in advance telling him I do not believe that Putin is afraid of sanctions. He’s lived with them for years, he knows how to get around them," McCarthy said. "What he really needs is a deterrent."
He went on to slam the president’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the weaponry, vehicles, and aircraft that were left behind.
"Think if they [Ukraine] had half the weapons we left in Afghanistan, they would have paid for them, but Russia would have never entered, Russia would have been falling even today," McCarthy argued.
He also argued that had Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government the country "would have collapsed."
Zelenskyy had turned down the offer saying in response that "the fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride," a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation disclosed, according to The Associated Press.
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"Even America taking the option of supplying Ukraine with weapons is correct, but it’s harder to supply them today," McCarthy stressed on Sunday, one day after invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital.
"We should have taken those actions sooner and we should learn from this moment in time that we should speed up the sales of weapons to Taiwan for what the future looks at, and what China is looking at happening today as well," he added.
McCarthy made the argument one day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. will further bolster Ukraine's defense in the face of Russian invasion with an unprecedented third payment of $350 million.
The defense aid will include anti-armor, small arms, various munitions, and body armor and related equipment, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Saturday.
"I have authorized, pursuant to a delegation by the President, an unprecedented third Presidential drawdown of up to $350 million for immediate support to Ukraine’s defense," Blinken said Saturday. "This brings the total security assistance the United States has committed to Ukraine over the past year to more than $1 billion."
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Blinken previously authorized an initial payment of $60 million last fall and another payment of $200 million in December.
Fox News’ Emma Colton, Peter Aitken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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