This blunder causes Putin to 'get an appetite': Victor Davis Hanson
The Hoover Institution fellow blasts Biden for 'erratic' foreign policy record and points out how he gave Putin an aggressive 'appetite' on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'
Victor Davis Hanson blasted President Biden for calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "killer" without the intention to back those harsh words with forceful action on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" Tuesday.
"When the United States is confident and the United States talks softly, but it has capability rather than loudly with a twig. Putin is deterred," the Hoover Institution fellow said. "So if you're … Joe Biden and you call him a killer or you call him a bully, but then you beg him to say, put 16 entities off your hacking list for us … then you've got problems. And that's where we are."
Vladimir President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
"Stop demonizing [Putin] and start showing strength. Get Germany and Turkey back as real members of NATO. And don't call him a killer unless you can back it up and we're not going to back it up," Hanson said.
Tensions are broiling between the West and Moscow amid the former Soviet country's decision to recognize and roll into a separatist region in Eastern Ukraine.
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President Biden said during a press briefing Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was beginning an "invasion." He said the stockpiles of blood and medical equipment on the Ukrainian border were an imminent sign of aggressive military intentions. "You don’t need blood unless you plan on starting a war," Biden said.
US President Joe Biden delivers a national update on the situation at the Russia-Ukraine border at the White House in Washington, DC, February 18, 2022. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration – along with the European Union – launched some sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks but withheld the most crippling sanctions pending further action from Moscow, according to The Associated Press. Biden said the sanctions went "far beyond" the Obama administration's response to the Crimean invasion.
Hanson said he believes that when the United States declines in energy independence and otherwise diminishes itself, it gives Putin an "appetite."
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He said, "When the United States pumps oil, and the West is not dependent on oil, and the price is moderate worldwide, Putin doesn't have a lot of cash and we are not desperate for oil. We're not doing what we're doing now, begging him to pump oil. But when you start to restrict it, as we did in 2014, as we didn't have it in 2008 and we went down by almost three million barrels in one year, then we're vulnerable and that raises flags and Putin gets an appetite."
Moscow was outraged when Biden called its leader a "killer," saying that it threatened the U.S.-Russia relationship. The former Soviet country resorted to recalling its ambassador in order to "analyze what needs to be done."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Putin responded back, "I would tell [Biden]: Be healthy … I wish him good health. I say this without irony, without joking."
When White House press secretary was asked if Biden regretted name-calling the Russian president, she said "Nope."