‘The quarterback is Xi’: John Kennedy links Iran and China to Putin’s war

WASHINGTON, DC: Senator John Kennedy said Iran and China are helping Russia’s war effort and cast Xi Jinping as “the quarterback” while urging the House to pass sanctions.

Kennedy argued that cutting Russia’s financial leverage would force Moscow toward negotiations, saying adversaries respond to direct economic pressure.

The Louisiana Republican made the remarks during a Fox News interview on Sunday, August 30, while pressing lawmakers to advance the sanctions measure.

John Kennedy says Xi is directing a broader effort

Kennedy said Russia is not an American friend and described Russian President Vladimir Putin in stark terms before turning to Iran and China.

“But look, Russia's not our friend. Putin has blood under his fingernails,” Kennedy said, arguing that Russia is already being financially pressured.

He then rejected the idea that Iran and China are separate from Russia’s war effort.

“But you need to put down the bong if you think that that Iran and China are not helping Russia in that war. They're all related. The quarterback is Xi,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he does not want the United States acting as the world’s policeman, but argued that Washington should not allow Xi, Putin or Iran’s Ayatollah to fill that role.

“These are not warm and loving human beings,” Kennedy said. “They understand one thing: hitting them right here, right between the eyes.”

He tied that argument directly to the sanctions legislation, saying the House should act after the Senate passed the bill overwhelmingly.

Louisiana Republican presses House to move sanctions

Kennedy said the process had already taken a year in the Senate and that tariffs had been added to the measure.

“It took us a year to pass the Russian sanctions bill,” he said. “We've added tariffs to it. We passed the Senate overwhelmingly. The House needs to go pass it, and we need to implement it.”

Kennedy predicted that sustained pressure would eventually bring Russia to negotiations, though he said that outcome might not happen immediately.

“And Russia will come to the table. It may not be overnight, but they'll come to the table and we'll get that war set up,” he said.

His argument was that financial pressure should remain central to the effort to force Russia toward a negotiated outcome.

John Kennedy has also urged caution on Iran

Kennedy’s comments about Iran build on earlier remarks in which he said he would prefer no agreement with Tehran to what he considered a bad deal.

In an NBC ‘Meet the Press’ interview on August 2, Kennedy said, “I’m always willing to give peace a chance,” but added, “no deal is just fine. Not preferable, but it’s fine. A bad deal isn’t.”

He also warned President Trump about promises from the Iranian government, saying, “He has to remember that the Iranian government learned to lie before they learned to talk and they’re more than mildly insane.”

Kennedy said he would maintain sanctions and the blockade while negotiations continued and suggested striking Pickaxe Mountain to reach fissile material and centrifuges underneath.

He also said he lacked military intelligence needed to determine whether Trump should begin another bombing campaign, noting that such action could cause pain, increase energy prices and add inflation for Americans.