President Joe Biden was right when he said that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power," and he and the White House should have let his statement stand, GOP Rep. Jodey Arrington said Tuesday on Newsmax.
"Vladimir Putin should not be in power," the Texas congressman said on Newsmax's "National Report." "He's a tyrant; and we're either going to pay a little now, or we're gonna pay a whole lot later. We are the leader of the free world."
Biden made the improvised remark during his speech outside Warsaw's Royal Castle Saturday night, prompting the White House to quickly say he was not calling for regime change in Russia.
The president insisted Monday that he is "not walking anything back" about his comments, but he also denied that he was calling for regime change in Moscow, explaining that he was "expressing the moral outrage that I felt toward this man."
Putin's attack on Russia is an "affront on democracy and freedom, and on freedom-loving people everywhere," said Arrington. "We do have a responsibility not to send our sons and daughters, but to provide the support and the lethal aid necessary for the Ukrainians to defend their freedom and independence."
But still, Biden should continue to make such statements about Putin "without his handlers coming around apologizing for him because they're so used to a posture of appeasement," said Arrington. "In every other dynamic around the world, that's the only play they know to run. But no, the president was right in saying that he should stick to that message."
Meanwhile, the congressman said that reports showing that Russian troops are pulling back in Ukraine show that Putin and his country have underestimated the Ukrainians' will to fight and what they will risk, but also, "as we say in Texas, Vladimir Putin is more hat than he is cattle when it comes to putting an army on the field."
Further, it shows that the sanctions that have been put on Moscow, "even though it's been late and somewhat weak and feckless" are starting to have some effects, said Arrington, but he also knows that "Vladimir Putin has tremendous pride" and the pressure on him must continue.
However, he said that Biden has now introduced a new budget that "shows weakness and will embolden our adversaries," as it cuts the nation's security budget along the border and is "discouraging and demoralizing to our troops, and it sends the wrong message to the world."
What Biden should do is stop the "government assault on oil and gas," said Arrington.
"His budget doubles down on the relentless attack on the fossil fuel industry," he said. "It's a $45 billion tax. In addition to the regulations coming out of FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] and SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] and every other agency in this administration, in addition to the moratorium on drilling and the cancellation of pipelines … the more you tax and regulate something, the less you get of it."
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