President Donald Trump has been the "most hawkish, anti-Russian president" in recent history, Rep. Adam Kinzinger argued Tuesday, answering complaints from the left that the president has not done enough to strike back against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I sure wish he'd say more against Russia, but his actions have been outstanding up to this point," the Illinois Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"He's been probably the most hawkish, anti-Russian president we've seen in quite some time."
Former President Barack Obama, however, was not hawkish at all on Russia, Kinzinger said.
"Everybody kind of looks back with rose-colored glasses at his foreign policy and say he was this Russia hawk," Kinzinger said. "He wasn't. He barely said anything about Russia, didn't do anything about election meddling when they saw that coming."
Obama also "allowed Russia a foothold in Syria to prop up the Assad regime, allowed Russia to intervene in Eastern Ukraine and did nothing really short of sending blankets to the Ukrainian army, where President Trump has now sent lethal weapons, said Kinzinger.
"[They had] a do-not-confront or rock-the-boat policy," he added, but sometimes the United States "needs to come in with a heavy hand."
Kinzinger said he does wish Trump hadn't called Putin to congratulate him on his win, but his move to expel diplomats sends a "stronger message."
The lawmaker said he also thinks Moscow can be stopped from meddling in upcoming elections. However, he pointed out that the United States must remember Russia wants to interfere with candidates from both parties "because they want to undermine our democracy."
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.
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