US senator calls for assassination of Putin
A senior Republican senator has warned Russian citizens that they will spend the rest of their lives in isolation and darkness unless one of them steps up to “take this guy out” – apparently referring to Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Graham’s tirade came following news of a fire at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, which Ukraine blamed on a “Russian shelling.”
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” Sen. Lindsay Graham Tweeted on Thursday night.
“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,” he added.
The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.
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.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 4, 2022
While Graham did not mention Putin by name or specify how exactly he expects the Russian people to “take him out,” his historical parallels leave little room for interpretation. Marcus Junius Brutus was a Roman politician who betrayed and assassinated Julius Caesar, immortalized in the emperor's dying words: “You too, Brutus?” Claus von Stauffenberg, meanwhile, was a German army officer famous for his failed assassination attempt on Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
On Thursday night, a fire broke out at a building near the six-reactor Zaporozhskaya Nuclear power Plant, with Ukrainian authorities accusing Russian troops of “shelling” the nuclear site.
Moscow had informed the international nuclear authorities on Tuesday that Russian forces had secured the territory around the plant and it was operating normally. Russian authorities have yet to respond to the latest charge.
