GOP leader Kevin McCarthy chided fellow Republican Madison Cawthorne for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “thug” as even his home state senator Cawthorne lashed out at the young congressman for his comments.
McCarthy, Calif., answered “yes” when asked if he spoke to Cawthorne after his comments. Madison is wrong. If there is a thug in the world, it is Putin.”
McCarthy noted that Russian leader Vladimir Putin directed his forces to bomb a maternity hospital and a children’s theater. “This is the aggressor. This is the one who should end this war. This is something that everyone should unite against.”
However, the GOP leader said he would support Cawthorne’s re-election. Leaders usually support incumbents in primaries, but McCarthy has already come out in support of Rep. Liz Cheney’s top contender, R-Vio.
“Remember Zelensky is a thug,” said the 26-year-old Republican freshman in a short clip shared by WRAL.
He appears to have discussed sending US military aid to Ukraine and then lashed out at leaders in Kyiv who refused to flee the country despite reports that many of them were on Russia’s “death list”, including Zelenskiy and his family.
McCarthy, Calif., answered “yes” when asked if he spoke to Cawthorne after his comments. Madison is wrong. If there is a thug in the world, it is Putin.
“Remember Zelensky is a thug,” said the 26-year-old Republican freshman in a short clip shared by WRAL.
“Remember that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt and incredibly evil, and it is promoting an awakening ideology,” he said.
According to CNN, Cawthorn made the comments to a group of supporters in Asheville, North Carolina over the weekend.
About an hour after the video was first posted, a North Carolina MP denounced the Russian intrusion on Twitter, but then staggeringly accused Zelensky of spreading “disinformation” to draw Americans into the conflict.
“The actions of Putin and Russia are disgusting. But leaders, including Zelenskiy, should NOT be spreading disinformation about America,” Cawthorne said.
“I pray for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Pray also that we will not be dragged into conflict because foreign leaders are spreading disinformation.”
Zelensky, elected in a landslide victory in 2019, has received praise from the international community for his bravery ever since Putin first launched his attack on Feb. 24.
Cawthorne’s comments run counter to most of his Republican Party colleagues, but a set of fringe Republican sentiment is broadcast on Russian Kremlin state television.
NBC News reporter Raf Sanchez tweeted footage taken on Russian state television trading in Cawthorne’s remarks. Russian state television also seized on the comments of Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorne, who called Zelensky a “thug.” It happened over and over again,” he wrote.
Volodymyr Zelensky, elected in a landslide victory in 2019, has received praise from the international community for his bravery ever since Putin first launched his attack on Feb. 24.
A warehouse full of household items is on fire after shelling as the Russian offensive into Ukraine continues, in Sumy, Ukraine, in this promotional image released March 18.
Local residents gather near a damaged apartment building after Russian military shelling in the Podolsky district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18.
A man walks among the rubble of buildings damaged by shelling in Kyiv as the Russian offensive into Ukraine continues, Kyiv, Ukraine March 18.
“If your comments are played over and over again by Russian state propaganda agencies…,” Senator Tom Tillis said, quoting the clip on Twitter.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham distanced himself from Cawthorne’s remarks during a GOP Senate press conference last week. “It looks like 90 percent of the country belongs to Ukrainians,” Graham said. “So when you see a member of Congress say something like that, I want you to know one thing, that he is an exception in the greatest possible sense on our part.”
RT, controlled and funded by the Russian government, previously circulated a clip of Tucker Carlson Tonight in which the presenter urged his viewers not to “hate” Putin.
“Putin ever called me a racist? Did he threaten to fire me for disagreeing with him? Did he send all the middle class jobs in my city to Russia? Did he create a worldwide pandemic? Carlson asked.
“Vladimir Putin didn’t do any of this, so why does permanent Washington hate him so much?” he continued.
This week, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, D-Ge., questioned why the US is sending military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. “We were told that we have an urgent moral responsibility to send money and ammunition to a country 6,000 miles away,” Greene said in a diatribe posted on Facebook Live, a country in which Joe Biden, by sheer chance, has a business interest, like many other people.
A few weeks ago, Trump famously called Putin a “genius.” In a rare break from Trump, McCarthy subsequently said there was no place for Putin apologists in his party and said, “I don’t think anything smart or brilliant about Putin.” I think Putin is evil, I think he is a dictator, I think he is killing people right now.”