Russian President Vladimir Putin is beating the United States on a bluff, Sen. Lindsey Graham says.
"He's playing a poker game with a pair of 2's and winning," Graham said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
President Obama's leadership is not held in high regard with Putin or other enemies, and that hurts not only America, but the world, Graham said.
"What we've learned from these changing times is that without American leadership the world disintegrates pretty rapidly," he said. "Russia is more aggressive, not less. The sanctions clearly are not working. Hamas is demanding open borders" in Israel.
America is not responding to threats throughout the world, he added, especially our allies such as Israel and Ukraine.
"Passive responses to naked aggression all over the world is our foreign policy," Graham said.
Europeans can't lead without the United States setting the standard, he added, describing the European Union as " a dysfunctional, political organization."
If he were president, Graham said, he would ask Congress for more sanctions on Russia, Putin included, and ask for money to equip and train the Ukrainian military. He also said he would condemn the U.N. human rights report that holds Israel responsible for its current fight with Hamas in Gaza.
"The U.N. human rights report is a joke," he said. "The U.N. is becoming more anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic."
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