President Donald Trump’s $825 million arms sale to Ukraine last week sent a message to Russia that its aggression will be answered, former Rep. Pete King told Newsmax on Sunday.
"There is no moral equivalence here, even strategic equivalence between Russia and Ukraine," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend," adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin must realize there are consequences for his actions.
The deal, King added, "should be the fastest way to get Putin to the peace table, realizing that the United States and Europe are going to stand behind Ukraine as far as resisting Russian aggression."
Also, King backed U.S. and Israeli action against Iran-backed Houthis, who have launched years of drone and missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden and at Israel.
"The Houthis are bad people," he said. "They've been killing innocent people and trying to terrorize people on the high seas. These people are dangerous, not just [to] the United States and Israel, but the entire Middle East, and to world commerce and trade."
On domestic security, King turned to the recent school shooting in Minneapolis, calling the tragedy a grim reminder that early intervention is critical.
He added that the shooter's ties to his parish school and hostility toward the Catholic Church were warning signs that went unaddressed.
"Clearly, this person was deranged, and these were issues going far back," King said of the trans shooter. "We have to find a way that we can intervene, actually committing people, taking action against them. You can't allow these walking time bombs to be walking freely in society."
He urged authorities to use social media monitoring and legal tools more aggressively to prevent such attacks.
"This was bound to happen, and I'm sure there are others like that out there," he said. "After it happens, we say, 'Why didn't we see it? Why don't we do something?' It has to be an early intervention, and I'm not just saying a psychological intervention. I'm talking about an actual physical intervention, getting these people off the streets."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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