Podcaster Katie Halper said Sen. Chris Coon’s (D-Del.) calls for the United States to “stop” Russian President Vladimir Putin in the face of Russian atrocities in Ukraine was tantamount to calling for World War III.
Coons has been calling for increased United States involvement in the war, with some comments seen as advocating for putting U.S. troops on the ground, an idea that President Biden has repeatedly rejected
In an interview with CBS’ Face the Nation on April 17, Coons said he feared Ukraine would turn into Syria.
“The American people cannot turn away from this tragedy in Ukraine. I think the history of the 21st century turns on how fiercely we defend freedom in Ukraine and that Putin will only stop when we stop him,” he told host Margaret Brennan.
Halper, while appearing on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” said Coons was among those “beating the drum for war.”
“This will, potentially of course, could lead to World War III. Although people are talking about it in ways that you would never know because they are being so casual about it,” Halper said.
“Is Chris Coons going to send his kids to fight? Are the boots on the ground going to belong to his children? I doubt it. I think it’s a scary moment,” she added.
Coons, a close ally of Biden’s, has since said he was not calling for boots on the ground in Ukraine.
Halper said the U.S. is still treating the war in Ukraine as a proxy war by providing arms to Ukraine, some of which are reaching groups like the far-right neo-Nazi Azov Batalian.
“We’re funding a proxy war much like we did in Syria, and we’re flooding the country with weapons that are winding up in the hands of some pretty unsavory characters, and that happened in Syria and that’s happening now in Ukraine with the Azov Battalion,” she said.
Halper said the focus of lawmakers and Biden should instead be on ending the war.
“I’m like, while at least Biden doesn’t want World War III, that’s a pretty low bar and it’s pretty pathetic so when you have lawmakers calling for discussing something even more belligerent, which should be off the table, I think it still is scary,” she added.