Nikki Haley: Biden admin is running scared of Russia, energy independence
Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley on the Biden administration’s response to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Former South Carolina governor and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley appeared on "The Guy Benson Show" Wednesday, where she blasted the Biden administration’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
The show host brought up how President Biden made news Tuesday for referring to Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine as "genocide." After playing a clip of the president defending his choice of words to the press, Benson recalled how this wasn’t the first time that the White House had sent mixed messaging on the war in Ukraine, in just this week alone.
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He pointed out how the Biden administration had bungled their promise of giving additional assistance to Ukraine, by at first offering helicopters, then reneging on that promise the next day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Kyiv, Ukraine, April 1, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
"Zelenskyy got on the phone with Biden and basically begged for those helicopters. I mean, Biden had just said there was a genocide happening, and they scaled back what they were planning to help with in terms of combating the genocide, militarily. And then after that phone call between the two leaders, I guess now the helicopters are back into the package," Benson told Haley.
The show host wondered if she also was concerned about the "incoherent" messaging and "flip-flopping" from the White House.
Haley said it appeared there was a lack of communication and also blamed "bureaucracy."
"Well it comes across as the different agencies aren’t talking to each other," she said. "I think this is genocide. Any time you try and eliminate the existence of a people, that’s genocide. And again, that shows bureaucracy is kind of taking time to define it as such," she noted.
The former diplomat then rebuked the White House for forcing Zelenskyy to "beg" for aid.
Nikki Haley stumps for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin in McLean, Virginia, July 14, 2021. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
"The part that bothers me is, why is Zelenskyy having to beg for anything?" she asked.
She urged the importance of sending aid to Ukraine and rallying our allies to win this war, for global security and freedom.
"This is not just a war with Ukraine. This is a war for freedom, this is a war that we must win. If we win this war, Putin and every other thug won’t even try this again. So we have to win and win big in this fight for freedom," she stated.
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But she said Putin will continue to succeed in killing Ukrainians as long as the Biden administration refuses to put tougher sanctions on Russian energy companies.
"If you look at the revenue numbers last year that Putin received for energy and if you look at this year, naturally it’s through the roof," she noted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at a rocket assembly factory outside the city of Tsiolkovsky on Tuesday. (Evgeny Biyatov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
"Every bit of money that goes to Putin is going to kill Ukrainians. We’re all a part of that as long as the U.S. doesn’t go and sanction the energy companies," she bemoaned.
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Along with sending Ukraine any equipment they need, Haley also pushed for the Biden administration to crack down on Germany for getting "cozy" with Russia by making their Nord Stream 2 deal in 2018.
"I think that it’s time to really put the hammer on Germany and say, ‘you know what? You got us into this by getting all cozy with Russia,’" she blasted.
All of Europe should end their dependency on Russian energy, Haley argued, and the U.S. should be there to help them do it.
"They could do it, we could help them do it, we should be doubling down on that," she added.