Over the weekend, a poll conducted by ABC/Ipsos showed that President Joe Biden’s (D) approval rating had taken another hit because of a number of issues. One of those issues is growing tension between the United States and Russia. On the heels of the poll, Florida Rep. Michael Waltz (R) and Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R) have penned an op-ed for Fox News, arguing that the world is more dangerous now because of “Biden’s inaction on Ukraine.”
In the poll, 38% of those surveyed believe that President Biden can negotiate on behalf of the United States with Putin. In a similar June poll, 49% of Americans believed he could do the same.
The poll also comes after a two-hour conversation President Biden conducted with Putin. In the call, President Biden is alleged to have told Putin that the United States would enact strong economic measures if Russia invaded Ukraine.
Speaking on the subject, the Republican lawmakers expressed that tension regarding Ukraine and Russia has become emboldened by recent events.
“Alarming developments that include the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the lifting of U.S. sanctions on the Russia-backed Nordstream II pipeline, and a lack of American support for Cuban and Venezuelan pro-democracy activists have given autocrats newfound confidence to test Western patience,” they wrote.
Both Waltz and Blackburn warned that “Vladimir Putin smells weakness in the White House and is taking measurements for a new Iron Curtain," adding that “Putin is on the brink of launching the largest land invasion in Europe since World War II because he knows he can get away with it.”
Moreover, the lawmakers also question “the ramifications should the U.S. and our NATO allies concede to Russian aggression in Europe,” asking “should Ukraine fall to Russian control, what’s to stop Putin from making incursions into Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia or Georgia?”
