‘Putin owns Biden’: Absurd GOP attacks require a strong Democratic response

‘Putin owns Biden’: Absurd GOP attacks require a strong Democratic response

Paul Waldman, Greg Sargent — Read time: 3 minutes

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is many things: a crime against humanity, a disaster for the Ukrainian population, and a complex policy challenge for the United States and its allies.

But to hear Republicans tell it, everything is simple, and all the United States needs to do is be tougher and more belligerent, at which point the conflict will come to a pleasing end. The fact that it hasn’t is proof that President Biden is, in the word they use ad nauseam, “weak.”

Consider the moment on Monday when Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) was asked by Fox News host Sean Hannity why Biden did not approve a proposal by Poland to deliver MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

“Putin owns Biden,” Graham said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Biden is afraid of escalation. He’s afraid of making Putin mad.”

Wait, does this mean Graham is not afraid of escalation? Or that he doesn’t believe such an escalation would take place?

Graham’s opinion on the MiGs is shared by many other Republicans. What you don’t hear them discuss is why Biden rejected the transfer of the planes.

There are two essential reasons Biden did this. First, the administration believes the planes won’t make the Ukrainian air force significantly more effective. Second U.S. intelligence has concluded that Russia could read such a move as provocation, which “might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO.”

In a world where Republicans were held to account for their positions, we could have a real debate over this question. Republicans could tell us why they think this intelligence assessment is wrong — that is, why they think approving the MiGs wouldn’t prompt such an escalation. Or maybe they’d say it’s a risk worth taking.

Could they be right about that? Possibly — but they don’t tend to make this case. Instead, they simply characterize the decision as evidence of Biden’s generic weakness. As Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) put it, Biden must make Putin “fear what we might do.”

But what will Putin do if he fears what we might do?

The same flaws mar the debate over creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something President Volodymyr Zelensky has also requested. Many Republicans have rejected this for a simple reason: It would mean shooting down Russian planes, and likely targeting Russian ground positions that support their air assets. That would simply mean a war between NATO and Russia, full stop.

Again, perhaps those Republicans believe a no-fly zone wouldn’t provoke a massive conflagration, or alternately, that risking a NATO-Russia war is worth the trade-off. But have they addressed this one way or the other? Not really. Instead, they know they can enter into friendly propaganda spaces such as Hannity’s show, where they don’t have to characterize the administration’s position fairly or offer much justification for their own position.

Instead, they are permitted to dumb the debate down to the point at which Putin’s invasion is continuing only because of Biden’s “weakness,” without having to explain why the downside risks of showing more “strength” are acceptable ones to take.

Why Fox News hosts don’t want to make Republicans explain this is fairly obvious. But if they aren’t going to, then perhaps Democrats should.

As an example, one senior Senate Democratic aide pointed out that, last week, Republicans fanned out to attack Biden as weak on Ukraine, while saying the president should do more. This came right after numerous Senate Republicans voted against humanitarian aid to Ukraine because of concerns with a broader omnibus spending package that aid came with.

“Why are we letting Republicans get away with talking tough on Ukraine, while not helping Democrats pass legislation that actually supports Ukraine?” the aide wondered to us.

Meanwhile, characterizing this conflict not as a complex policy challenge but as a personal battle of wills between Biden and Putin leads to yet another absurdity. Former president Donald Trump regularly paints himself as personally tougher than Biden, to the point of declaring that, were he in still office, he’d threaten Russia with nuclear annihilation.

This sort of nonsense is also allowed to skate by unchallenged on Fox News. But here again, the casualty is a real debate: The actual difference between Trump and Biden on Russia and Ukraine is a profound policy difference, not something that reflects their contrasting temperaments.

The result has been a robust, coordinated response from the West that has defied everyone’s expectations and has unmasked Trump’s vision as bankrupt to its core. Why aren’t Democrats more forcefully pointing this out?