Tulsi Gabbard Blames Joe Biden for Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine, Cites ‘Russia’s Legitimate Security Concerns’
As Russian forces began a large-scale bombing and invasion of Ukraine, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) said none of that would’ve happened were it not for President Joe Biden and the NATO alliance.
Around 5 a.m. on Thursday Kyiv time, explosions were reported in or near several cities in Ukraine. During CNN’s coverage, reporter Matthew Chance was doing a live hit from Kyiv when he was interrupted by the sound of explosions in the distance.
“Ooh, I tell you what, I just heard a big bang right here behind me,” he said, before putting on a flak jacket and helmet.
With that, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was underway.
Enter Gabbard, who tweeted, “This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border.”
Gabbard has become a fixture on Fox News of late. Appearing on the network two weeks ago, she told Sean Hannity, “President Biden could end this crisis and prevent a war with Russia by doing something very simple: Guaranteeing that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO – because if Ukraine became a member of NATO, that would put U.S. and NATO troops right on the doorstep of Russia, which, as Putin has laid out, would undermine their national security interests.”
It’s worth noting that NATO is already “on the doorstep of Russia.” NATO members Norway, Estonia, and Latvia border the country, as do Poland and Lithuania via their borders with Russia’s Kaliningrad oblast that is sandwiched between the two. Nevertheless, one can understand Gabbard’s point, while also being gobsmacked by the fact that she appears to be placing the blame on Biden, and not the guy actually waging a war of aggression.
