Sen. Lindsey Graham Likens China Supporting Russia to “Buying a Ticket on the Titanic”

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said that China would make a huge mistake by supporting Russia, as the nation considers providing lethal aid to Russia against Ukraine. 

“If you jump on the Putin train, you’re dumber than dirt,” Graham said referring to China in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” 

He added, “It would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after you saw the movie.”

Graham’s comments follow a speech from the Munich Security Conference, where China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, told world leaders that China is working on a peace proposal to end the conflict in Ukraine; but this information is contrary to what U.S. intelligence suggests, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Based on information we have that [China is] considering providing lethal support, and we’ve made very clear to them that that would cause a serious problem for us and in our relationship,” Blinken told CBS on Saturday.

“There’s a whole gamut of things that — that fit in that category, everything from ammunition to the weapons themselves,” the Secretary of State continued. 

Tensions between China and the United States have escalated in recent weeks, after Blinken postponed his trip to China, prompted by a Chinese surveillance balloon that flew over the United States. Blinken and Wang Yi met privately on Saturday—even after Wang Yi called the U.S.’s response “absurd and hysterical.”

At the conference, Vice President Kamala Harris also said that the United States formally determined that Russia committed crimes against humanity during its invasion of Ukraine: “In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we have examined the evidence, we know the legal standards, and there is no doubt: these are crimes against humanity.”

“And I say to all those who have perpetrated these crimes, and to their superiors who are complicit in those crimes – you will be held to account,” she said, adding, “Their actions are an assault on our common values, an attack on our common humanity.” 

Graham said he wants more than just stern words coming from the U.S. government.

“Once you call Russia being engaged in crimes against humanity, you have to have actions consistent with that statement,” Graham said. “So I’m looking for this administration to follow up on that statement by designating Russia as state sponsored terrorism under U.S. law.” 

Currently the U.S. has designated four countries as state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Syria.

“What’s at stake here is the rule of law, human decency, and world order,” Graham said.