Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott dodged a reporter’s question over the weekend on whether Donald Trump should condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.
Scott, who leads the Senate GOP arm dedicated to electing more Republicans, was quick to condemn the Russian autocrat himself but said it was ‘up to’ Trump to do so.
Speaking to CBS News at the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Scott instead pivoted to calling on Democrat President Joe Biden to do more for Ukraine’s government and people and claiming Trump’s main focus was helping Republicans take back the majority in Congress in this year’s midterms.
Trump invoked outrage across the political spectrum late last week when he praised Russia’s authoritarian leader’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine as a ‘genius’ and said his plan of designating two separatist breakaway areas as ‘independent’ was ‘pretty savvy.’
During his big speech headlining CPAC on Saturday evening, Trump walked his comments on Ukraine back but continued to speak glowingly of Putin. He instead blamed the Biden administration for Russian forces’ invasion.
‘The Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling. It’s an outrage, and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur,’ Trump told his audience in Florida last night.
A view of damage due to armed conflict between Russia, Ukraine in Donetsk region under the control of pro-Russian separatists, eastern Ukraine on February 27
Ukrainian fighters have continued to stave off a Russian takeover of their country in a historic resistance effort
Scott would not say that Trump should condemn Putin despite repeatedly being asked
However, he also said: ‘Yesterday reporters asked me if I thought President Putin is smart. I said of course he’s smart. The problem isn’t Putin is smart — which of course he is smart — it’s that our leaders are dumb.’
Shortly before the speech, CBS journalist Robert Costa asked Scott whether Trump should be condemning Putin in future comments.
‘Well, clearly, we all ought to be condemning what’s going on in Ukraine. I mean, Putin is a thug. We need to hold him accountable. I hope the Biden administration, hope everybody, you know, holds — does everything they can to hold the Biden administration –‘ Scott began.
Costa cut Scott short to as if that should include the former president.
‘Well that’s a decision by President Trump,’ Scott replied. ‘You know, Biden — Putin is a thug, it’s despicable, my heart goes out to the people of Ukraine.’
‘I’m going to do everything I can to help the Ukraine citizens, we need to make sure we provide all the resources we can.’
Costa pressed him again, ‘So is it up to him whether he condemns Putin or not?’
‘Of course it’s always up to him,’ Scott said.
Images from the Ukrainian city of Sumy show a Russian tank burning just days after newly revealed dashcam footage showed a huge column of tanks moving into the city
An Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter examines a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicle GAZ Tigr after the fight in Kharkiv on February 27
The senator brushed off further questioning on whether Trump should be encouraged to do so.
‘It’s always up to every individual to do whatever they want,’ Scott replied.
Asked if he, as the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wanted Trump to issue a ‘strong message’ against the invasion, Scott said: ‘Well, I talked to President Trump. I talked to Republicans all over the country. We’re all focused on making sure we get the Senate back.’
It’s possible Scott does not want to be caught on Trump’s bad side, after it was reported that the ex-president has been trying to court Scott to challenge Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell for his top role.
Trump had beseeched Scott during a private meeting at Mar-a-Lago to run for leadership against McConnell, CBS reported..
Scott unequivocally ruled out such a challenge in his Saturday afternoon interview.
Ukraine’s forces have been putting up an historic resistance to the Russian military as it attempts to advance on the capital of Kyiv.
Nearly 200 Ukrainians have died as of Saturday morning since Russia’s invasion began early last week, an official at Ukraine’s Ministry of Health said. More than 1,000 Ukrainian citizens have been injured.
Russia’s casualties number more than 3,500, according to the BBC, though reports indicate that the devastating figure has not reached Kremlin-controlled media channels.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed Sunday that Kyiv and Moscow would engage in peace talks at his country’s border with Belarus. His office released a statement crediting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for brokering the talks, which he said would go on ‘without preconditions.’
Lukashenko, who allowed Putin to send his troops to Ukraine via Belarus just days ago, promised that all weapons and war tech stationed in his country would remain on the ground when officials meet.
At the same time Putin declared in a televised addressed that he had ordered troops operating the nuclear deterrent onto a ‘special regime of duty’ in light of ‘aggressive statements’ from NATO leaders and ‘unfriendly economic actions’.
Hours earlier Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the Hague, with Zelensky requesting that the UN International Court of Justice orders Russia to stop its attack against Ukraine and start trials.
‘Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week,’ Zelensky said in a statement on Twitter.