'This Week' Transcript 6-4-23: Vivek Ramaswamy & Rep. Mike Turner

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Good morning, Martha.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Right. I had the opportunity a couple months ago to meet with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, and to meet with our troops, who are training and who are assisting in planning. And I'm incredibly optimistic. President Zelenskyy has made a great case that this is the fight to preserve democracy. And because of that, he has rallied the West and received incredibly, you know, technologically advanced weapon systems, including German tanks, as you were reporting, U.K. tanks, U.K. long-range missiles, and of course the Patriots, which are protecting Kyiv.

The upcoming offensive, they're ready for; they're trained for; they're equipped for. And Russia is not.

One thing that is amazing to see is the ingenuity of the Ukrainians. You know, we've seen recently where, using United States Patriot systems, they've taken down the Kinzhal missile, which was at the heart of Putin's boasting of the strength of his military, claiming that the missile was undefeatible. They defeated it. That -- that has a huge impact on the mental thoughts of Putin as he looks at this coming offensive.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, I don't know who's behind them. And of course, there have been disclaimers by the Ukrainian government that they're not coordinating those. But, you know, one thing, the effect of this, is Putin is having to admit to his public that his air defense systems are inadequate. But it's been interesting to watch the disingenuousness, as he steps forward and said how -- you know, how awful of the Ukrainians to be attacking residential areas, when in fact that's what he's done this entire war. He has attacked civilians; he's attacked residential areas. The atrocities that Russia has committed in Ukraine are unmatched by anything that we have seen.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

No. I think, well, certainly we have to understand that Ukraine needs to be able to defend its territory; they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression. The United States does not support, and our weapons systems should not, and are restricted from -- in fact, President Zelenskyy made a commitment that he would not use U.S. weapon systems in Ukraine. I think he's made that commitment directly to me when I saw him last. I believe that he's committed to it. And I think that, you know, the offensive that is being planned and prepared is about Ukrainian territory, with our support.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, what we're seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China. If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships in international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi said when he stood next to Putin in Russia, where he said, "They're trying to make change that had not happened in 100 years."

Well, that change is the, you know, 100 years ago, World War I and World War II. That was about democracy versus authoritarianism. They're trying to, you know, flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong, and certainly this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion and...

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable. And when you have, for example, a balloon that transits all across the United States, and the administration doesn't respond until the game's over, until it's over the Atlantic, you start -- and when you have police stations that have been operating within the United States, that took forever in order for them to take action, you get this sort of sense of permissiveness, that I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we're going to treat it as such.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Well, I think this is what we believe. Right now, North Korea has nuclear weapons capability, the ability to hit the United States, to be able to hit New York City itself. With respect to North Korea, obviously the concept of deterrence, we have weapons; they have weapons, is dead. We need to go to deterrence plus defense. That means an aggressive missile defense system. We have an opportunity at Fort Drum, that Elise Stefanik has been active to try to get built out a missile defense system that would help to protect New York City. We need to build out that system. And we need to hold China accountable for North Korea.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source