The United States' adversaries are watching President Joe Biden and his administration's reaction to Russia's potential invasion of Ukraine, and a continued show of weakness will "invite aggression" against America's allies around the world, Rep. Michael Waltz said on Newsmax Wednesday.
"China's watching, Iran is watching, North Korea's watching, and if we continue to show weakness rather than strength, that is going to continue to invite aggression," the Florida Republican, who has served in the U.S. Army as a Green Beret, said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
"This is not going to stop with Ukraine. This is very similar to what happened in the 1930s. First, it was one country, then it was another, and before we knew it we had global instability and a world war."
The United States must lead, he continued, but that doesn't mean it needs to send hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Ukraine, said Waltz.
"It does mean we provide the diplomatic support, the economic support, and the lethal military aid to the Ukrainians," said Waltz.
It's also a problem that Biden is telling the world what he will do after Ukraine is invaded, including imposing strict sanctions, instead of what he'll do to keep an invasion from happening, said Waltz.
"I've got to tell you when I was out there, the Ukrainians weren't too thrilled with hearing about all the tough action the president and NATO would take after Russian tanks were sitting in their capital."
Waltz visited Ukraine about a month ago with a congressional delegation, and said Wedensday that Russia has amassed hundreds of thousands of troops on the country's border and is prepared for a full invasion.
"There is no mistaking the timing of all of this," said Waltz. "Putin is doing it because he knows he can get away with it. The same crowd that was around [Barack] Obama when [Putin] invaded Crimea and got away with it, despite all the threats about tough sanctions that happened then, is now around Biden."
Further, Putin has scored a "checkmate" against European countries that are dependent on Russian oil and gas in the middle of winter, and that means those countries won't participate in Biden's calls for sanctions, said Waltz.
The congressman also discussed the upcoming Olympics in Beijing and pointed out that he was the first in Congress to call for a full boycott, "not this symbolic boycott that allows Biden to say he's doing something.
"We should not be celebrating and waving the American flag in Beijing, given the ongoing genocide, the threats to their neighbors, and 800,000 dead Americans," said Waltz.
He also added that "dictators love the Olympics," and pointed out that Putin invaded neighboring Georgia during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
"He's poised for, just three weeks from now to do it once again," said Waltz.
Meanwhile, he said he thinks China's President Xi Jinping will wait until he is reelected by his Communist Party's Congress this summer before invading Taiwan.
"It's a dangerous period over these next two years as long as Biden's in office," said Waltz.
Note: See Newsmax TV now carried in more than 100 million U.S. homes, on DirecTV Ch. 349, Dish Network Ch. 216, Xfinity Ch. 1115, Spectrum, U-verse Ch. 1220, FiOS Ch. 615, Frontier Ch. 115, Optimum Ch. 102, Cox cable, Suddenlink Ch. 102, Mediacom Ch. 277, AT&T TV Ch 349, FUBO and major OTT platforms like Roku, YouTube, Xumo, Pluto and most smart TV’s including Samsung+, Sony, LG, Vizio and more – Find All Systems that Carry Newsmax – Click Here
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.