Kinzinger rips House Republicans’ ‘damn awful’ anti-Biden tweet

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Tuesday slammed House Republicans for a tweet they issued after President Biden announced that the U.S. would be imposing sanctions on Russia, calling it “damn awful.”

On Tuesday, Biden announced U.S. sanctions against Russian elites and their relatives, sovereign debt and two financial institutions in response to the Russian invasion into eastern Ukraine. He also announced that he authorized more U.S. troops to be moved to three European nations to bolster the eastern flank of NATO.

Following the president’s announcement, House Republicans issued a tweet saying, “This is what weakness on the world stage looks like” with a photo of Biden walking away from reporters after delivering remarks.

Kinzinger, who was censured by the Republican National Committee earlier this year along with Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), condemned the tweet.

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He said in a statement on Twitter that it “feeds into” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s narrative.

“As still ‘technically’ a member of house Republicans, let me, with all my might, condemn this damn awful tweet during this crisis. You can criticize policy but this is insane and feeds into Putins narrative. But hey, retweets amirite?” Kinzinger tweeted.

Kinzinger’s comments come as Republicans voiced their disapproval following Biden’s remarks, arguing that his administration has not taken tough enough steps against Russia and Putin. 

Russia has already amassed as many as 190,000 troops near Ukraine, and the president acknowledged Tuesday that “this is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

“Today’s sanctions are too little, too late,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement on Tuesday. “First, these sanctions should have happened before Putin further invaded Ukraine — not after. Second, economic sanctions now need to more aggressively target Putin’s oligarchs to make sure they feel real pain. Third, we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that today’s incremental sanctions will deter Putin from trying to install a puppet government in Kyiv.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and several top House Republicans issued a statement on Tuesday calling for Congress to put more pressure on Biden to take harsher measures, such as putting in place secondary sanctions and “crippling penalties on the industries” that the Russian military relies on.