A House Republican broke with President Donald Trump late Thursday on CNN when pressed about his thoughts on efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) joined “The Source” with anchor Kaitlan Collins. The congressman, who previously served in the Marine Corps and now sits on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committee, was brought on to give his thoughts on Trump possibly “rushing into making an agreement” between Russia and Ukraine that could “hurt his legacy.”
McCormick clarified that Trump isn’t making the agreement, rather trying to pressure the two nations in different ways, as both have “different motivations.”
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Collins pushed back, saying that, while Trump said today there is pressure on Russia, “we haven’t seen sanctions or what you’re talking about there in terms of the end result.”
The conversation then shifted to the congressman’s feelings on whether Russia taking over “all of Ukraine [is] a pretty big concession.”
To that, he deflected.
“Well, it really doesn’t matter what I think — it matters what Ukraine thinks and what Russia thinks. I mean, I could tell you exactly how I would handle this, but that doesn’t matter either. I’m not the commander-in-chief,” he insisted, adding that what “really matters is getting them to the table” and stabilizing the region.
Collins again pushed back on the congressman, saying that while he’s not the president, he’s a sitting lawmaker on relevant committees.
Later in the segment, Collins pressed McCormick on whether he’d “ever be comfortable with the United States formally recognizing Crimea as Russia’s?” Trump has reportedly offered to have the U.S. recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea as part of a deal.
At this, McCormick broke with Trump.
“Personally, no. I don’t think that’s a good thing — because I don’t like what Russia did to begin with. I don’t think we should encourage a bad actor in something we’ve already negotiated previously. So no, not me personally. But once again, the world is watching, and they’ll make their own decisions.”