Hurd: Too many GOP candidates want to ‘kiss the butt’ of Putin

Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) said some of his fellow GOP presidential candidates are going too easy on Russian President Vladimir Putin a few hours before the first GOP presidential debate — and after a plane crashed in Russia with a passenger list that included Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

“This is one of the issues that I hope the candidates on the debate stage get asked about, because unfortunately there’s too many of those candidates in the room who engage and, to be frank, want to kiss the butt of Vladimir Putin,” Hurd said in a CNN interview.

“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, and his likely actions today are just a further indication of that,” Hurd added.

Prigozhin is the leader of the mercenary group that has been at the forefront of Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Over the last year, he turned increasingly critical of Russia’s military leadership, and in June he led a short-lived coup against the government.

Mystery has shrouded Prigozhin and his precise relationship with Putin since the coup. Initially it was said he would be sent into exile in Belarus, but he later was believed to have returned to Russia.

There had been speculation since the coup over whether Prigozhin would meet a violent end, possibly on orders from Putin.

Hurd, who not qualify for Wednesday night’s first GOP presidential debate, said Putin is likely responsible for the crash. 

“A person has a 1-in-11 million chance of dying in a plane crash,” Hurd said. “Now, I don’t have any of the intelligence or insights into what happened, but considering that Prigozhin tried to create a mutiny two months ago, I don’t think this was luck.”

“I think this was something that Vladimir Putin did on purpose and was trying to not only target him, but let everyone else know that he’s not going to play,” he added.

President Biden also suggested Wednesday that Putin could be responsible.

“There’s not much that happens in Russia that Putin’s not behind,” Biden told reporters. “But I don’t know enough to know the answer.”