Lindsey Graham Doubles Down on Wanting Putin Assassinated: ‘If John McCain Were Here He’d Say the Same Thing’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) renewed calls for Vladimir Putin to be “taken out” on Wednesday when asked at a press conference if he stood by earlier remarks calling for the Russian leader’s assassination.

Graham came under fire, particularly from the hard-right, for comments he made in early March saying, “The only way this ends, my friend, is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.”

He later backtracked a bit in an appearance on Fox & Friends after being skewered on the network by Laura Ingraham, who called his comments “dangerously stupid.” Graham instead said of Putin, “He needs to go to jail.”

When asked Wednesday, “Do you stand by your call to have Putin be assassinated?” Graham quickly responded, “Yeah.”

“I hope he’ll be taken out, one way or the other,” Graham added. “I don’t care how they take him out.”

“If John McCain were here, he’d be saying the same thing, I think,” Graham argued, invoking his friend and former Senate colleague.

McCain, who passed away in 2018, was a close friend and mentor to Graham. The South Carolina senator has since been at odds with McCain’s family as he continues to embrace former President Donald Trump, who regularly attacked McCain and his legacy.

“It’s time for him to go. He’s a war criminal. I wish somebody had taken Hitler out in the [1930s],” Graham added. “Vladimir Putin is not a legitimate leader, he is a war criminal. He needs to be dealt with by the Russian people.”

The hawkish senator and U.S. Air Force veteran added:

I’m not asking to invade Russia to take them out. I’m not asking to send American ground forces into Ukraine to fight the Russian army. I am asking the Russian people to rise up and end this reign of terror for you and the world at large.

Watch the full clip above via CSPAN