Nikki Haley: Putin should be scared of Biden and he’s not
2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley calls Vladimir Putin a ‘dictator and a thug’ and calls the war in Ukraine a ‘war for freedom.’
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley called on the Biden administration to take a stronger stance and demand Russia release a detained Wall Street Journal reporter.
Evan Gershkovich, a Moscow-based correspondent, was detained Thursday by Russia’s security service, the FSB, on allegations of spying.
Haley said the Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout prisoner swap in December emboldened Russia to take more Americans.
FILE - This combo of images shows Viktor Bout, left, a suspected Russian arms dealer at the criminal court in Bangkok, on Aug. 20, 2010 and WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, right, in a court room prior to a hearing, in Khimki, outside of Moscow, Russia, on July 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, left, and Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
"This comes from the weakness of the Biden administration. Putin should be scared to do this, and he's not. And he's getting really desperate," she explained on "The Story" Thursday.
"We know he's getting drones from Iran, he's getting missiles from North Korea. They are running out of the money. The sanctions are setting in. And it's, you know, he's getting desperate. This is what he's going to start to do. But this is a reminder to the American people, whenever you doubt whether Ukraine needs to win, look at this mafia-type dictator who basically does not value human life and does not value freedom. And this is another example of that."
Haley said the Biden administration needs to let Russia know they are not allowed to "wrongfully detain" an American and if they don’t "fix this now…we’re going to fix it."
"If that means we go and we start putting more sanctions, that means we squeeze them more. We do that. But they do have Americans there. They need to give them back," she told anchor Martha MacCallum.
She added that Gershkovich’s detainment was a way for Putin to distract from his losses in Ukraine and was a way for him to get "attention again."
"I think we're going to see more of it. And now he had China show up and President Xi show up and shake his hand and talk about how they're going to change the world order for the first time in 100 years. And they're going to do it together. This is how they're going to do it," she said.
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The Wall Street Journal released a statement saying it "vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB" and seeks the "immediate release" of Gershkovich.
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to Governor of Magadan Region Sergey Nosov via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, on Oct. 21, 2022. The International Criminal Court said Friday, March 17, 2023 it has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine. ((Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP))
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Kremlin was attempting to "intimidate, repress, and punish journalists and civil society voices."