Don’t compliment ‘mass murderer’ Vladimir Putin, NC’s Sen. Thom Tillis says
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North Carolina U.S. Senate race
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U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters Wednesday morning that no one should be complimenting Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he called “a mass murderer.”
“Anybody who compliments Vladimir Putin, is complimenting a mass murderer,” Tillis said during a news conference. “There are no compliments coming from me or my office.”
Tillis spoke to reporters to give an update on the U.S. response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He called for a bipartisan response to Russia and addressed a dividing issue among Republicans after the party’s leader, former President Donald Trump, was criticized for calling Putin smart and intelligent.
Ukraine an issue in Senate race
How to describe Putin has been a key point of tension between two candidates in North Carolina seeking the GOP’s nomination for the state’s other U.S. Senate seat. Former Gov. Pat McCrory has criticized U.S. Rep. Ted Budd for echoing Trump’s words in calling Putin “a very intelligent actor.”
“Putin is evil,” Budd said in an interview with CBS-17 on Monday, “but that doesn’t mean he’s not smart. He’s a very intelligent actor, though I would say he’s been quite erratic in his approach to Ukraine.”
Budd added that while Putin is “intelligent” he’s also an “international thug.”
Budd’s opponent, McCrory, responded by saying that Putin’s actions aren’t those of an “intelligent man,” but of “a madman.”
“It’s unfathomable that a sitting member of Congress who wants to be a U.S. Senator would call Putin intelligent while bombs are being dropped on women and children,” McCrory said in a news release.
When asked about the two candidates’ remarks, Tillis said he considers them both friends and wouldn’t comment specifically about their words.
“Here’s what I’ll tell you, Vladimir Putin may be smart, but so was Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer,” said Tillis, referencing two American serial killers. “They were both intelligent people, but they were murderers and Vladimir Putin is allowing mass murder to occur in Ukraine.
“We should actually stay focused on that and stay focused on the safety and security of the people who are fighting for their country.”
Troop deployment
Tillis, who serves as co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer group, said 80,000 military personnel have deployed overseas, including troops from Fort Bragg. Many more are expected to be deployed.
“The American people need to know it’s not with any intent to set foot in Ukraine, but it’s every intent to make it clear that we stand by our NATO partners and allies,” Tillis said.
Tillis said NATO’s Article Five commitment, which says that a threat to one NATO country is a threat to all, has only been used once in the history of the NATO alliance, in Afghanistan, but the allies are prepared to act now.
He added that the troops are sending a message to Putin that the United States is committed to upholding its NATO obligation. They’re also helping NATO allies with the refugee crisis.
Refugees, war crimes and diplomacy
More than half a million people have left Ukraine and crossed into neighboring countries. Tillis said it’s expected several million more could follow.
“Sources tell us that over 2,000 people have died since Russia invaded Ukraine,” Tillis said. “Right now we have a nuclear power facility that’s under the threat of being taken over in Ukraine and two other nuclear assets in the south. The east portion of Ukraine could also be under threat.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that Putin committed war crimes. Tillis said he believes that allegation could be substantiated, though that’s a complicated process.
Tillis said Russia is a threat because of its nuclear weapons and because Putin seems unstable. He said Putin’s reaction in the coming days and whether he might escalate needs to be watched closely because his plan to take over Ukraine in a week has failed.
“We have to be mindful to use diplomatic channels to try and deescalate,” Tillis said.
Sanctions
Tillis wants to see the United States issue more sanctions against Russia and said the course of the invasion may have changed if Democrats had acted sooner. But he added that that’s in the past, and it’s time to look forward.
In Congress, lawmakers are working on a bipartisan bill that would create tougher sanctions.
And Tillis renewed Wednesday a call for President Joe Biden to “take all steps necessary” to expel Russia from its spot as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
“This is not a time when we have a threat like we have in Ukraine, and potential threats or miscalculations that could cause this to become a broader conflict — this is not a time to be partisan,” Tillis said. “This is the time to use every device in power, diplomatic or otherwise, working with our NATO partners to deescalate the situation and get Russia out of Ukraine.”
Tillis said they’re seeing the effect on the Russian military and economy from sanctions already put in place. He said that includes effects on the Russian ruble and the stock market.
“I hate it for the Russian people because I don’t believe the majority of them want to have Ukraine invaded and have the atrocities that we’ve seen committed there,” Tillis said.
He added that freezing assets is not enough. He believes Russia’s assets need to be seized.
“We have to absolutely cut off the currency that Vladimir Putin will use to prosecute this war and murder innocent men, women and children in Ukraine,” Tillis said.
Energy superpower
In Biden’s State of the Union speech Tuesday, Tillis said he had hoped the Democratic president would have addressed any plans that would allow the United States to become an energy superpower and was disappointed when that didn’t happen.
“I think we need to do it because this could be a protracted situation that’s going to hurt a lot of people,” Tillis said.
Tillis said eventually the invasion will have ripple effects on North Carolinians at the gas pump and in other forms of continued inflation.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 3:28 PM.
