McCarthy: Biden Needs to Tell Putin He Can't Cyberattack U.S., Not Tell Us to Be Ready for It

On Wednesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Faulkner Focus,” House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) criticized President Joe Biden for focusing on telling Americans to guard against Russian cyberattacks rather than telling Russia there will be consequences if they do so and argued that Biden has repeatedly sent the wrong signals to Putin by making statements that tell Putin he can get away with certain actions like only declaring that certain sectors of the U.S. are off-limits to cyberattacks and that a smaller incursion into Ukraine would provoke a smaller response.

McCarthy said, [relevant remarks begin around 5:15] “This is what makes me so mad about this administration. Don’t tell us there’s a threat. We know there’s a threat. Tell Putin that he doesn’t have the right to do it. Remember when President Biden said at a press conference in the White House that if Putin just took a little of Ukraine, it wouldn’t be that bad? Gave him the wrong message. Remember when President Biden said, well, these are 16 companies Putin cannot go after? No, what he should say to Putin is, don’t go after any American company, if you do, there will be consequences.”

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