Hannity accuses Biden of sabotaging US national security for 'radical climate' agenda: 'It's checkmate'
Hannity said that Biden is 'playing checkers and it's already been checkmate -- Joe doesn't know it yet'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sean Hannity accused President Biden Thursday of listening to "radical climate alarmists" who are out of touch with national security even as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his aggressive war campaign into Ukraine.
"Joe's playing checkers, and it's already been checkmate – Joe doesn't know it yet," Hannity said.
On Friday morning local time, explosions were audible around or about Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. The city "could … be" besieged by the Russians, potentially with the intention of decapitating and replacing the existing government, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Hannity said the Biden administration was handling the conflict entirely wrong and proposed boosting energy production domestically and ending imports from Russia and Iran.
A Ukrainian serviceman is reflected in a mirror as he smokes a cigarette on a position at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Zolote, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
"The only way to really deter Putin and his cronies, ... and it doesn't require one bullet to be fired, one American boot on the ground, it is to degrade Russia's oil and gas capabilities. That is his financial lifeline," the "Hannity" host said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to Hannity, Biden was taking the opposite route in order to please the radical wing of the party.
"Sadly, Joe will not revive the Keystone XL Pipeline," he said. "He won't encourage more oil and gas production right here in the U.S. [and] he won't do anything to increase our production. Biden takes his orders from the radical climate alarmists. That is the cult of the Democratic New Green Deal party in America.
Hannity said Biden takes orders from U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}U.S. climate envoy John Kerry attends the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain November 12, 2021. (REUTERS/Yves Herman)
"Biden's climate czar ... John Kerry ... [is] whining that war in Ukraine is distracting from his important mission to save the world from global warming. This is where his mind is at today?" Hannity asked.
On Wednesday Kerry expressed concern that the war in Ukraine would lead to "massive emissions" as "consequences."
"Equally important, you're going to lose people's focus. You're going to lose certainly big country attention because they will be diverted. And I think it could have a damaging impact. So I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track with respect to what we need to do for the climate," Kerry said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hannity retorted, "John, he doesn't care about your climate agenda."
President Putin gestures speaking to the media with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)
"You have to be a complete idiot to say what you just said and believe what you just said," Hannity said. "And this is the same guy, John Kerry, flying around the world in his private jet, lecturing the American people about our carbon footprint."
"Biden should have lifted all major restrictions on all drilling, all fracking, all exploration. He should have convened a meeting with America's top energy-producing companies and encouraged every one of them to produce energy like never before," he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He should have lifted every restriction that he imposed, including the permanent hold on new drilling in Alaska and ANWR, the suspension of new drilling on all federal lands, and the pause of new permits for offshore drilling. He should have also made guarantees to supply our allies with the energy that they need through American oil, American coal and American liquefied natural gas."
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"That didn't happen today, in fact, just the opposite," Hannity lamented. "According to the White House, the sanctions are not designed to cause any disruption of the flow of Russian energy to the rest of the world. Translation: Joe Biden is going to allow Putin to continue to get rich and Russia to get even more rich."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As the Russian invasion escalated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community to bring the most crippling sanctions against Russia.
The Biden administration responded with some sanctions against Russian oligarchs and banks, technology exports, and re-activated sanctions he had lifted on Nord Stream 2, whose Russian parent company is Gazprom. The White House continued to withhold the most severe sanctions, in part, to retain leverage.