Kinzinger: Hawley ‘one of the worst human beings’

Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) called Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) “one of the worst human beings” after the senator sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the Biden administration to abandon its support for a prospective Ukrainian membership in NATO.

“I hate to be so personal, but Hawley is one of the worst human beings, and a self egrandizing con artist,” Kinzinger wrote in a post on Twitter.

“When Trump goes down I certainly hope this evil will be layed in the open for all to see, and be ashamed of,” the congressman added.

The Illinois Republican quote-tweeted an article from The Hill about a letter Hawley sent to Blinken and copied to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in which the senator urged the administration to drop its support for Ukraine’s eventual admission into NATO.

“Today, an increasingly powerful China seeks hegemony in the Indo-Pacific. If China succeeds, it could harness that region’s resources to further propel its rise, while restricting U.S. access to many of the world’s most important markets. Americans’ security and prosperity rest upon our ability to keep that from happening, and so the United States must shift resources to the Indo-Pacific to deny China’s bid for regional domination,” Hawley wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Axios. 

“This means the United States can no longer carry the heavy burden it once did in other regions of the world — including Europe. To the contrary, we must do less in those secondary theaters in order to prioritize denying China’s hegemonic ambitions in the Indo-Pacific,” Hawley continued.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question regarding Hawley’s letter on Wednesday during a press briefing and accused him of “parroting Russian talking points.”

“If you are digesting Russian misinformation and parroting Russian talking points, you are not aligned with long-standing bipartisan American values, which is to stand up for the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine, but others,” she said.

“Their right to choose their own alliances, and also to stand against, very clearly, the efforts, or attempts or potential attempts by any country to invade and take territory of another country,” Psaki added. “That applies to Sen. Hawley, but it also applies to others who may be parroting the talking points of Russian propagandist leaders.”

Amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Russia has issued security demands to the U.S. and NATO, including that Ukraine be denied membership in the military alliance. The U.S. has deemed the condition to be a non-starter.

Responding to criticism from Psaki, Hawley accused the Biden administration of coddling Russia.

“This from an Administration that has coddled Russia from Day One and now brought Europe to the brink of war – giving the Russians Nord Stream 2, refusing Ukraine military aid last year, and conducting a disastrous evacuation of Afghanistan that emboldened our enemies worldwide,” Hawley tweeted on Wednesday.

The Hill has reached out to Hawley’s office for comment.