NASHVILLE - U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, Ga., is defending her House vote Thursday against stripping "most favored nation" trade status from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine, saying it in no way means she's pro-Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"First off, that's ridiculous, and you need to stop," Greene told a reporter in Washington in a video supplied by her office. "I don't have any sympathy for Putin and Russia. So you can take your pro-Putin garbage and you can take it somewhere else.
"What Putin is doing in Russia is murderous and it's evil. And I've said so from the beginning," she said.
Greene's comments came after she was one of just eight House representatives to vote against the measure that sets the stage for higher tariffs on imports from Russia and Belarus.
"He [President Joe Biden] has already failed us in Afghanistan, and he's failed us from the beginning, making America look weak on the world stage," Greene said. "This is the reason why Putin was so emboldened to do what he's doing in the Ukraine, which is absolutely horrendous."
All nine members of Tennessee's House delegation, including U.S. Reps. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Ooltewah, Scott DesJarlais, R-Sherwood, and Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, voted for the resolution.
"Revoking permanent normal trade relations with Russia and their ally in their invasion of Ukraine, Belarus, is another important step to sanction Putin and his collaborators for their evil actions, including murdering innocent civilians, bombing hospitals and targeting nuclear power plants such as Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia," Fleischmann said in a statement to the Times Free Press. "I am proud we have shown the world that the United States Congress, executive and the American people are united to stand with the Ukrainian people in their fight for their homeland, freedom and democracy against Russia's invasion."
DesJarlais' office also issued a statement regarding his vote.
"As Putin continues to relentlessly attack the Ukrainian people, it is necessary for the U.S. to have every tool available to weaken Russia's economy while protecting our U.S. citizens," it reads.
Burchett had this to say: "I just voted to suspend normal U.S. trade relations with Russia and Belarus in response to Vladimir Putin's murdering of innocent Ukrainians, further isolating Russia from the global economy."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the House by video on Wednesday.
"Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people," Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. "Russian troops have already fired nearly 1,000 missiles at Ukraine, countless bombs. They use drones to kill us with precision."
He reiterated his call for a Western no-fly zone and also called on the transfer of surface-to-air missiles and other weaponry.
In a video she posted on social media later, Greene took note of Zelenskyy's address.
"Turn on the television, no matter which network or news program you tune into you will hear the same ominous sound in the background - the drumbeat of war. We're told that we have an urgent moral responsibility to send money and munitions to a country 6,000 miles away..."
(READ MORE: Rep. Greene sounds off on war in Ukraine at Rome, Georgia, rally)
"If we truly care about suffering and death on our television screens, we cannot fund more of it by sending money and weaponry to Ukraine to fight a war they cannot possibly win. The only effect of more arms and more money from America will be to prolong the war and magnify human suffering. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be responsible for creating even more refugees and orphans in an already traumatized and dysfunctional world ...
"It's not our responsibility to give President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people false hope about a war they cannot win."
Her speech was criticized by hacktivist group Anonymous, which called Greene a Russian asset, and U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who suggested Greene is a "useful idiot" for Putin.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.