Senator Tom Cotton was criticised after he refused four times to condemn Donald Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Amid Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the one-term president called Mr Putin a “genius” and “savvy” during a radio interview.
“George, if you want to know what Donald Trump thinks about Vladimir Putin or any other topic, I’d encourage you to invite him on your show,” Cotton told ABCThis Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
“I don’t speak on behalf of other politicians. They can speak for themselves.”
The Republican was pressed by Stephanopoulos to condemn the comments, as well as Mr Trump telling Fox News he had “no message” for Mr Putin.
“Why can’t you condemn that? I feel quite confident that if Donald – that if Barack Obama or Joe Biden said something like that, you’d be first in line to criticise them,” Stephanopoulos said.
Mr Cotton, who sits on the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees, again refused to do so.
“Again, George, if you want to talk to the former president about his views or his message, you can have him on your show,” he said.
“My message to Vladimir Putin is quite clear: he needs to leave Ukraine unless he wants to face moms and teenagers with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers and grandfathers with AK-47s for years to come.”
Stephanopoulos passed him again for refusing to condemn Mr Trump’s praise of Mr Putin.
“I’m delivering my message to you, which I said has been clear, whether Barack Obama was president, whether Donald Trump was president, and now whether Joe Biden was president, that Vladimir Putin has been a ruthless dictator for years,” he said.
“Too many people have not taken the threat seriously. And that’s why you see the images we see in Ukraine now. And where we need to focus is on stopping that aggression, supporting the Ukrainians as best we can.”
Mr Cotton’s TV performance quickly got pushback on Twitter.
“And after each of (Cotton’s) pathetic, cowardly refusals to criticize Trump, *four* excellent followups. Well-done, (Stephanopoulos),” tweeted Kurt Anderson.
And political commentator Joy Reid, added: “This is cowardice. (Cotton) is terrified of a disgraced, twice-impeached retiree who spends his time issuing pro-Putin declarations from his Florida rent-out mansion; when he’s not grifting cash from his followers or converting oligarch rubles into cash to hide from the IRS.”
And Alexander Vindman, the former Director for European Affairs for the US National Security Council, also slammed the Republican for his stance.
“The far-right republicans position is untenable & out of step with the American people, who overwhelmingly #StandWithUkraine . You own this. You cheerled Putin. You have blood on your hand. Your salvation is to support Ukraine and denounce Trump’s. Get a clue,” he tweeted.
The Independent has reached out to Senator Cotton’s office for comment.
