CNN reporter asks Biden if Navalny's blood is 'on the hands of House Republicans' for blocking Ukraine aid
Critics blasted the 'absurd' question on social media
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A reporter for CNN suggested that House Republicans have blood on their hands following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a notion that even President Biden didn't agree with.
While taking questions from reporters on Monday, Biden was confronted by CNN correspondent MJ Lee, who insinuated that GOP lawmakers bear responsibility for Navalny's death for not greenlighting more aid to Ukraine.
"Mr. President, would you go so far as to say that Alexei Navalny’s blood is on the hands of House Republicans right now?" Lee asked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN's MJ Lee asks President Biden whether Alexei Navalny's blood is "on the hands of House Republicans" over their obstruction in passing aid to Ukraine. (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)
"I wouldn’t use that term," Biden said. "They're making a big mistake not responding."
"Look, the way they’re walking away from the threat of Russia, the way they’re walking away from NATO, the way they’re walking away from meeting our obligations — it’s just stunning. I mean, for awhile — I’ve never seen anything like this," Biden added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lee then asked whether he believed Navalny's death will "nudge" Republicans towards passing Ukraine aid, to which Biden expressed hope as well as doubt that anything would change.
Russian opposition activist and outspoken Putin critic Alexei Navalny died while in custody last week, sparking international outrage. (AP/Pavel Golovkin)
Critics railed against the CNN reporter's "absurd"question on social media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Just an absurd question - and it suggests (without any kind of evidence) that sending more money to Ukraine would stop Putin killing political opponents," GOP strategist Matt Whitlock reacted. "Even adamant Ukraine supporters have to be shaking their heads at this one."
"This is completely unhinged," Daily Caller deputy editor Dylan Housman wrote.
"The very premise is demented," independent journalist Glenn Greenwald said. "But CNN is now more partisan in favor of Dems not only than MSNBC (which criticizes him on Israel) but even Biden himself."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"There are unfortunately structural incentives to not only look like a hack, but a stupid one. The stupider, the better," Washington Free Beacon reporter Joe Gabriel Simonson swiped Lee.
The Biden administration has placed blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin for Navalny's death. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN isn't the only member of the media that's placing blame on Republicans for Navalny's death. MSNBC host Alex Witt and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., suggested over the weekend that former President Trump's recent statements about NATO encouraged Navalny's murder.
"I think we have to ask ourselves, why did Navalny all of a sudden die at this point in time?" Lieu said Saturday. "Well, we had former President Donald Trump essentially say that Russia should attack European countries."
Witt fed into Lieu's conspiracy, saying "The day before he died, he looked to be in perfectly good health… The next day [he] drops dead."