Cheney Criticizes Biden for Meeting with Putin
Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney went on the Hugh Hewitt show to discuss the recent meeting president Joe Biden had with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Cheney said Biden made the mistake many presidents do by meeting with Putin and giving him the gift of legitimacy.
"It was unfortunate that President Biden decided to sort of jump right in to go to this meeting with Putin. We kind of see this again and again, where, you know, U.S. presidents don't recognize that meeting with somebody, meeting with Putin gives him a gift. It basically gives him a platform on the world stage. I think that Biden needs to be clear with his actions that there are things that Putin and the Russians are doing that we won't stand for."
Cheney then talked about what Biden should be doing to show Putin that he's not afraid to upstage Putin.
"Garry Kasparov, who’s been a longtime Russian dissident, obviously chess grandmaster, has made the suggestion, which I agree with, that Biden ought to go meet with Navalny’s family. Biden should meet with Zelensky. He needs to, you know, be thinking through what are the actions that we can take that demonstrate to Vladimir Putin that he is isolated."
Also mentioned during the interview was Biden giving Putin a list of 16 critical pieces of infrastructure that he didn't want Russia touching, something Cheney took issue with.
"I think it's a mistake. I think it is basically sending a message of, “As long as you don't hit these people, hit these entities on this list, then you're not going to have a response from us.” I think it's much, much more effective for us to be very clear that there will be a response, that we do have the capability to conduct offensive cyber operations, that we're doing it, that we're not going to alert you that we're doing it...So far, the record is not one that I think will give Putin the concept that we're operating from a position of strength."
Cheney is not the first Wyoming representative to voice their opinion on Biden's first meeting with Putin, as Senator John Barrasso recently went on Fox News to critic Biden's missteps during the meeting.