Marjorie Taylor Greene Suggests Biden Could Send Nuclear Weapons to Ukraine

After her proposal to ban the sale or transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine was advanced by House Republicans on Thursday, Greene escalated her attacks against the Biden administration, suggesting that the president might soon be sending nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden announced on Friday, July 7 that the U.S. will send cluster munitions to Ukraine. He said it had been a "difficult decision" but that Kyiv needed the weapons for its counteroffensive against Russia.

The move has been criticized by human-rights activists. Cluster bombs are banned in more than 100 countries around the world because of how deadly and devastating they can be. There's no indication that the Biden administration is preparing to send, or even discussing sending, nuclear weapons to Ukraine. Newsweek has contacted the White House and Greene's spokesperson for comment via email on Friday.

Greene has been vocal about her opposition to the U.S. sending cluster bombs to Ukraine. She said that the munitions will only further escalate the war and cause more death in the country.

"Cluster munitions are brutal, inhumane weapons that cause lasting harm to civilians," Greene posted on Twitter on Thursday, sharing a video of her intervention in Congress on the same day discussing the topic.

"The US is a part of the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of these weapons," Greene added erroneously. The U.S. is not a signatory of the United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions.

"Sending them to Ukraine is a clear escalation. What's next? Chemical or biological weapons, nuclear weapons?" Greene tweeted.

The decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine has proven extremely controversial for the U.S., among both Republicans and Democrats—though it's technically legal for the country to do so.

Cluster munitions, which disperse large numbers of tiny bomblets over a wide area, are known to be very effective when used against dug-in ground troops in the trenches. But not all of the multiple explosive submunitions that fall to the ground detonate immediately. They can explode at a later date, killing or maiming civilians.

Both Russia and Ukraine have been using cluster bombs since the beginning of the invasion in late February 2022. Neither of the two countries nor the U.S. has signed the international treaty banning them.

During a House Rules Committee meeting on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Thursday, all nine Republicans on the panel voted against a motion from Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) to allow a full floor vote on an amendment barring the U.S. from selling cluster munitions around the world. This was proposed by Democratic Reps. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN).

What they did instead, is push forward a narrower but similar proposal by Greene and her fellow Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Thomas Massie (R-KY). This bars the U.S. from selling or transferring cluster munitions to Ukraine alone.

It was a small victory for Greene, who on the same day received a significant blow from her own party, which rejected her plan to eliminate $300 million in Ukraine funding. On July 11, Greene had filed six amendments aiming to end assistance to Ukraine and withdraw the United States from NATO, which she described as "not a reliable partner."

Eighty-nine of her own fellow party members voted in favor of eliminating the funding while a majority of 130 Republicans voted against the amendment. All but the four Democrats who did not vote stood against Greene's amendment.

The Georgia Republican has long been pushing to cut funding to Ukraine. Greene has said that the U.S. has "done enough" to help the country battling the Russian invasion. She once described the war in the Eastern European country as "the new Iraq," which risks bringing about "World War 3."