Sunday shows preview: White House says Russia could invade ‘any day’; RNC censure resolution receives backlash

Ongoing tensions over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Republican National Committee’s recent censure of two GOP lawmakers are expected to dominate this week’s Sunday show circuit.

President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone Saturday that Russia would face “swift and severe costs” if it chooses to invade Ukraine.

This comes after White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday told reporters that “the Russians are in a position to be able to mount a major military action in Ukraine any day.”

“It could begin any day now, and it could occur before the Olympics have ended,” Sullivan said. The Beijing Olympics are scheduled to end on Feb. 20.

Sullivan is scheduled to appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation” and CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby is set to appear on “Fox News Sunday.”

Tensions surrounding the Republican National Committee’s censure of Republican Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) earlier this month are also expected to be discussed on this week’s Sunday talk show circuit.

On Feb. 4, the RNC voted to formally censure the lawmakers for their criticism of former President Donald Trump and their service on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will appear on ABC’s “This Week,” criticized the committee’s apparent use of the phrase “legitimate political discourse” to describe the Jan. 6 attack in the censure resolution.

“You’ve heard me say again and again that the Republicans seem to be having a limbo contest with themselves to see how low they can go,” she said on Wednesday. “They seem to have reached rock bottom with their statement that what happened on Jan. 6 was normal political discourse.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who will also appear on ABC’s “This Week,” said the GOP was headed in the “wrong direction” when not talking about taking back control of Congress, Politico reported.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R.-La.), one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump following the Jan. 6 attack, questioned the RNC’s move to censure Cheney and Kinzinger. 

“The RNC is censuring Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger because they are trying to find out what happened on January 6th,” Cassidy wrote in a tweet. “HUH?”

Cassidy is set to appear on “Fox News Sunday.”

Kinzinger, who is scheduled to appear on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said when asked about the censure this week  that “nothing surprises me anymore,” but added that he was “saddened.”

“I’ve been a member of the Republican Party before Donald Trump entered the field,” he had previously said in a statement about the RNC’s move. “My values and core beliefs remain the same and have not wavered. I’m a conservative who believes in truth, freedom, and upholding the Constitution of the United States.” 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Preempted by coverage of the Winter Olympics.

CBS’s “Face the Nation” — National security adviser Jake Sullivan; Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J.; Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Sullivan; Gov. Larry Hogan, R-Md.

“Fox News Sunday” — Pentagon press secretary John Kirby; Gov. Jared Polis, D-Colo.; Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio); Virginia Lt. Gov Winsome Sears (R); Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.); former Georgia Sen. David Perdue (R), Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate