White House, Taylor-Greene, Cruz and Omar disavow Graham’s call for Putin assassination

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is facing intense pushback from all corners of Washington after calling for the Russian people to end the Ukraine war by assassinating Russian President Vladimir Putin. White House press secretary Jen Psaki says that it is “not the position of the United States government.”

Graham, a former Air Force lawyer and longtime defense hawk, tweeted Thursday evening that “the only people who can fix this” are Russians.

“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out,” Graham tweeted. “You would be doing your country — and the world — a great service.”

The tweet drew swift pushback from some of the most conservative and liberal members of Congress.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz calls it “an exceptionally bad idea.” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican who was denounced this week for speaking at an event organized by a white nationalist, says Graham’s tweet was “irresponsible, dangerous & unhinged.” And Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat who has faced criticism over comments about Israel, tweeted: “Seriously, wtf?”

Psaki dismisses Graham’s idea out of hand.

“That is not the position of the United States government and certainly not a statement you’d hear come from the mouth of anybody working in this administration,” she said.