Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan on Monday grilled Green Party candidate Jill Stein on whether or not Russia's Vladimir Putin is a war criminal or not — and the presidential hopeful struggled to offer a straightforward response.
Pointing out that Stein hasn't hesitated to call Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, the Mehdi Unfiltered host wondered why she had such a difficult time condemning Putin, who invaded Ukraine in 2022.
"You called Netanyahu [a war criminal], which I think he is," Hasan said to Stein.
"Oh, absolutely," the Green Party candidate replied.
"But is Putin a war criminal?" Mehdi asked.
"So, what we said about Putin was that his invasion of Ukraine is criminal," Stein said. "It’s a criminal and murderous war."
Pressing the presidential candidate further, Hasan emphasized, "You’re struggling here to say something very simple. This is why people have their doubts about you and Russia."
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He then asked, "Why is Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal, but not Vladimir Putin?"
Stein replied, "Well, as John F. Kennedy said, we must not negotiate out of fear and we must not fear to negotiate. So, if you want to be an effective world leader, you don’t start by name-calling and hurling epithets.
Referring to the Israel-Gaza war, Stein later noted, "We are sponsoring that war. We are sponsoring Netanyahu. He is our dog in this fight."
Hasan replied, "No disagreement from me at all. But that does not answer my question. Whether we sponsor them or not is irrelevant. Either you’re a war criminal or you’re not. Is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?"
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"In so many words, yes he is," Stein replied.
"Butch, is Vladimir Putin a war criminal?" Hasan asked, turning to Stein's fellow panelist and running mate, Butch Ware.
"Let me say that whatever you think he is," Stein began, before Hasan said, "It doesn’t matter what I think. I’m asking what you think. You’re running for president. I’m not."
"So why have you called Biden and Netanyahu war criminals?" Hasan asked once more.
"Because we have a clear strategy—" Stein replied.
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"That doesn’t make any sense to me."
Watch the video below or at this link.
