Biden weakness invited Russian aggression, Republicans say

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg briefs the press after Russian troops move into eastern Ukraine

Congressional Republicans are blaming what they say is President Biden's weakness on the world stage for inviting Russian aggression in Ukraine.

Several GOP lawmakers torched Biden over his foreign policy, with Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan telling Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the president’s geopolitical standing is "incredibly weak."

"President Biden is incredibly weak on the world stage, which is why Vladimir Putin thought this was a great time to invade Ukraine," McClain said in an email.

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Rep. Lisa McClain told Fox News Digital that Biden "is incredibly weak on the world stage, which is why Vladimir Putin thought this was a great time to invade Ukraine." (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"Now, more than ever, we need a president who will stand up to our adversaries and put strong sanctions on Russia to send a message loud and clear to the world that we will not tolerate this blatant violation of international law," the House Armed Services Committee member continued.

McClain’s statement came as a chorus of several prominent Republican senators blasted Biden online over the Russian invasion into Ukraine.

In a Monday press release, Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Biden as having "refused to meet" the U.S.’ commitments to Ukraine and said "Biden-Harris officials are to an enormous extent directly responsible for this crisis."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, addresses a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2021. (Reuters)

"He and his administration instead settled for an endlessly deferred and wholly uncredible strategy of responding to Putin's aggression after an invasion," Cruz said. "They have pursued bizarre tactics like declassifying American intelligence and trying to shame Putin. That approach has failed."

Cruz also called Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that same day recognizing the independence of the separatist Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic areas of Ukraine as "just the latest step in his obsessive drive to rebuild the Soviet Union, at the expense of the national security of the United States and our allies."

"Weakness always invites aggression," Florida Sen. Rubio tweeted Tuesday. "And weakness in response to aggression always invites others to be aggressive as well."

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham posited in a tweet that who "doubts - in light of Putin’s aggression - that if they had to do it over again Ukraine never would have given up their nuclear weapons?"

"I can only imagine the number of nations thinking right now that having a nuclear weapon is a good thing to have," he continued.

"One of the dangerous consequences of weakness in the face of aggression," Graham continued in a tweet.

Graham on Monday called for the U.S. to "destroy the ruble and crush the Russian oil and gas sector" in response to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.

"Putin’s decision to declare eastern Donetsk and Luhansk as independent regions within Ukraine is both a violation of the Minsk Agreements and a declaration of war against the people of Ukraine," the Republican from South Carolina also wrote.

Former President Trump also released a statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that if "properly handled, there was absolutely no reason that the situation currently happening in Ukraine should have happened at all."

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"I know Vladimir Putin very well, and he would have never done during the Trump Administration what he is doing now, no way!" Trump wrote. "Russia has become very very rich during the Biden Administration, with oil prices doubling and soon to be tripling and quadrupling."

The Biden administration on Tuesday declared the Russian troop movement into Ukraine to be an "invasion."