Fox News host Laura Ingraham has criticized Senator Lindsey Graham for tweeting that someone in Russia should "take out" President Vladimir Putin.
Ingraham described his post as "stupid" during her show on Thursday night. The tweet also sparked a backlash on social media, including calls for the South Carolina Republican to resign.
On the March 3 episode of The Ingraham Angle, the Fox host discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine with another GOP senator, Tom Cotton.
Ingraham played a clip of former CIA director John Brennan saying "Putin's days are numbered" before mentioning Graham's tweet, which had been posted earlier on Thursday evening.
The senator wrote: "Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?
"The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country, and the world, a great service."
In a follow-up tweet, he added: "The only people who can fix this are the Russian people.
"Easy to say, hard to do. Unless you want to live in darkness for the rest of your life, be isolated from the rest of the world in abject poverty, and live in darkness you need to step up to the plate."
Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 4, 2022
The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.
You would be doing your country - and the world - a great service.
During the show, Ingraham asked Cotton: "Senator, is there any intel that you know of that [suggests] Putin's days are numbered?
"I know Lindsey Graham, earlier tonight, tweeted that basically someone needs to take him out. Maybe I am paraphrasing, but basically that somebody should assassinate Putin."
She went on: "I don't know why a sitting U.S. senator would be tweeting that. We like Lindsey Graham, but that is just a stupid comment."
The leader of secessionist group Yes California, Louis Marinelli, was one of those calling on Graham to resign for his remark.
I lived in Russia for many years. You may not like Vladimir Putin but many Russians do. Your tweet is not being received well in Russia. You've unilaterally pushed the Russian people another step away at a time when American sanctions are uprooting their lives. You should resign.
— Louis Marinelli (@LouisJMarinelli) March 4, 2022
In a tweet reply to Graham, Marinelli wrote: "I lived in Russia for many years. You may not like Vladimir Putin but many Russians do.
"Your tweet is not being received well in Russia. You've unilaterally pushed the Russian people another step away at a time when American sanctions are uprooting their lives. You should resign."
Washington Times columnist and comedian Tim Young pointed out that "Resign now" was trending on Twitter because "Lindsey Graham got a couple of cosmos in him at happy hour and decided to start threatening world leaders."
Alt-right activist and commentator Jack Posobiec tweeted simply: "Resign. Now."
Author and comedian Akilah Hughes mocked Graham for apparently believing his comments would have been well received.
"Damn Putin [definitely] has something on Lindsey Graham cause he really thought we'd all be like 'yeah senators tweeting about assassinating a head of state is cool and normal,'" she tweeted.
Damn Putin def has something on Lindsey Graham cause he really thought we’d all be like “yeah senators tweeting about assassinating a head of state is cool and normal”
— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) March 4, 2022
Political commentator Lauren Chen also questioned whether the senator's posts broke Twitter rules. "Trump got booted off Twitter, but literal calls for assassinations from politicians are fine I guess," she tweeted.
Newsweek has contacted Senator Lindsey Graham's office and Fox News for comment.
Follow our live blog for updates on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
