A former NATO commander is warning Russia's Vladimir Putin is going to be emboldened to wage an election meddling campaign in the U.S. after the House ousted a pro-Ukraine speaker this week.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., alleged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had a "secret side deal" with President Joe Biden on Ukraine funding and ultimately led a faction of eight House conservatives to vacate the speaker, a move that has retired Navy Adm. James Stavridis, the former NATO supreme allied commander for Europe, concerned.
"A great day for Vladimir Putin when he watches the U.S. Congress rip itself apart and find itself unusable to have a speaker in place," Stavridis told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable” on WABC 770 AM-N.Y., The Hill reported.
"What does Putin decide to do? He will double-down on trying to undermine U.S. elections."
The contention in Congress over continued funding for Ukraine's defense against Putin's war is an opportunity the Russian dictator is going to exploit, Stavridis warned.
"I feel as though we're kind of disconnected here at home," Stavridis told host John Catsimatidis. "We have extreme parties on both sides that don't want to cooperate, don't want to come to any sort of agreement."
Sowing discord in American politics is a No. 1 way Putin wages modern warfare, according to Stavridis.
"The debacle in the House of Representatives, throwing out a speaker for the first time in American history, it's just a terrible thing," he said.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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