EZRA LEVANT ｜ Russia invades Ukraine
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Summary
Russia invades Ukraine, and Joe Biden says it's a "minor incursion." What does that have to do with anything? Is it a minor incursion, or is it a major incursion? And what will the world do about it?
Transcript
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Hello, my rebels. Today, I'll do my best to try to understand what's going on in Ukraine.
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I don't think I have anything particularly novel to say about it, but I want to point out how it
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was Joe Biden's weakness that caused Putin to move after Putin and basically all the bad guys being
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frozen for four years during Trump's administration. And I want to point out the Canadian connection
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that Joe Biden, by banning the Keystone XL pipeline, has made himself vulnerable to energy
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politics from Russia. I'll go through some of that and some of his more ridiculous statements
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that's ahead. But first, let me invite you to subscribe to Rebel News Plus. That's the video
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version of the show. Just go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe. It's eight bucks a month. You
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get the video version of this show, plus four other shows a week. All right, here's today's podcast.
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Tonight, Russia invades Ukraine. It's February 24th, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.
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Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
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There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
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The only thing I have to say to the government, the wire publisher, is because it's my bloody right
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to do so. Russia has invaded Ukraine, not just a minor incursion, as Joe Biden said.
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So I think what you're going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades,
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and it depends on what it does. It's one thing if it's a minor incursion, and then we end up having
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a fight about what to do and not do, etc. I think that Vladimir Putin took Biden's measure,
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and realized that minor incursion, major incursion, same diff, Biden and the West would do nothing.
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It would be like America fleeing Afghanistan after 20 years, abandoning billions of dollars
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worth of weapons, leaving behind hundreds of U.S. citizens. Just a total collapse,
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a collapse of will more than anything. That's what would happen again.
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Putin invaded eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Crimea, they annexed it. That was when Barack Obama
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was president and Joe Biden was vice president. Nothing really happened to Russia as a consequence.
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The world was learning it could do what it wanted with the Democrats in charge, until Donald Trump was
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elected in 2016. He was a tough guy. The media called him a bully. And it's true that some of his tweets
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were really mean. But there wasn't a war during his four years as president, was there?
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Trump liked being regarded as a bit of a wild card. When he had Chinese leader, the dictator,
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Xi Jinping, over for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida hacienda, he timed a missile attack on Syria
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for dessert, just to show Xi Jinping how casual and cavalier Trump was about launching a bunch of
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cruise missiles. Whether it was respect or whether it was fear, the world did not trifle with Donald
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Trump. In fact, peace broke out, certainly between Israel and many of its Muslim and Arab neighbors,
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including the United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is, other Gulf states, and even in North Africa.
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They called it the Abraham Accords. Iran didn't try anything when Trump was in power. North Korea
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didn't try anything. There's Trump doing his best with a carrot and a stick. I mean, this is pretty
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tough talk, pretty directly to Kim Jong-un, and it seemed to work, didn't it? I'm not here to say that
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Trump solved all the world's problems, but they were certainly put on ice during his four years
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as president. Here he is talking about how Europe was too chummy with Russia, and it was foolish to
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buy their natural gas from Russia. Not only did it enrich Russia, but it gave Russia a kind of strategic
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veto over European political and military affairs. Why would you buy your energy from your enemy?
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Well, I have to say, I think it's very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with
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Russia, where you're supposed to be guarding against Russia, and Germany goes out and pays
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billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia. So we're protecting Germany, we're protecting France,
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we're protecting all of these countries. And then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline
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deal with Russia, where they're paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia.
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So we're supposed to protect you against Russia, but they're paying billions of dollars to Russia,
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and I think that's very inappropriate. And the former chancellor of Germany is the head of the
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pipeline company that's supplying the gas. Ultimately, Germany will have almost 70 percent
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of their country controlled by Russia with natural gas. So you tell me, is that appropriate?
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I mean, I've been complaining about this from the time I got in. It should have never been allowed
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to have happened. But Germany is totally controlled by Russia, because they will be getting from 60 to 70
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percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline. And you tell me if that's appropriate,
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because I think it's not. And I think it's a very bad thing for NATO,
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and I don't think it should have happened. And I think we have to talk to Germany about it.
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On top of that, Germany is just paying a little bit over 1 percent, whereas the United States,
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in actual numbers, is paying 4.2 percent of a much larger GDP. So I think that's inappropriate also.
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You know, we're protecting Germany, we're protecting France, we're protecting everybody,
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and yet we're paying a lot of money to protect. Now, this has been going on for decades.
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This has been brought up by other presidents, but other presidents never did anything about it,
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because I don't think they understood it, or they just didn't want to get involved.
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But I have to bring it up, because I think it's very unfair to our country,
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it's very unfair to our taxpayer. And I think that these countries have to step it up,
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not over a 10-year period, they have to step it up immediately.
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Germany is a rich country. They talk about they're going to increase it a tiny bit by 2030.
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Well, they could increase it immediately tomorrow and have no problem.
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I don't think it's fair to the United States. So we're going to have to do something,
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because we're not going to put up with it. We can't put up with it.
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Was that undiplomatic talk? Sure, I guess, but he did get NATO allies to spend more on the military.
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How ironic. The media party that had claimed Trump was in Putin's pocket.
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Well, Putin never tried anything like this during Trump's tenure, did he?
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So Biden was weak, but once perhaps he was strong, I don't know, decades ago.
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At least we can say he had his mental faculties.
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Whether or not his judgment or leadership was sound, at least he was once something.
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I'm not sure you can say that about Kamala Harris,
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who was dispatched to Europe to handle this tough job.
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Imagine the terror that struck in the hearts of Ukraine, I mean.
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Look at this clip. She starts with, listen, guys.
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We're talking about the potential for war in Europe.
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I mean, let's really take a moment to understand the significance of what we're talking about.
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It's been over 70 years, and through those 70 years, as I mentioned yesterday,
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We are talking about the real possibility of war in Europe.
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So our position is, for us, very clear, which is, as a leader, which we have been bringing together the Allies,
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working together around our collective and unified position,
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that we would all, not just prefer, we desire, we believe, it is in the best interest of all,
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Did we mention that she's the first African-American and Indo-American and female vice president?
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Yeah, I don't know why they didn't work on Putin.
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I'm not making fun of the fact that she's a woman.
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This is John Kerry, former Secretary of State, now has special projects for Biden.
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In fact, he was the Secretary of State in 2014.
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That's their top diplomatic post when Putin invaded Crimea last time.
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Here's what John Kerry had to say literally yesterday.
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I'm very concerned about Ukraine because of the people of Ukraine
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and because of the principles that are at risk in terms of international law
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and trying to change boundaries of international law by force.
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I thought we lived in a world that had said no to that kind of activity.
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But equally importantly, you're going to lose people's focus.
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You're going to lose certainly big country attention because they will be diverted
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So, you know, I think hopefully President Putin would realize
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they used to live on 66% of a nation that was over frozen land.
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And his infrastructure is at risk and the people of Russia are at risk.
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And so I hope President Putin will help us to stay on track
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with respect to what we need to do for the climate.
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Climate is the most important thing, Vladimir Putin.
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The attack from Russia today and last night was striking.
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It looked like a full-scale war, the combined might of Russia being deployed en masse.
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There was a decade or so after the fall of the Soviet Union
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when the West rightfully could chuckle at how rusty and out-of-date
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Their jets, their helicopters, their missiles, their electronic warfare.
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I think that America's military is still more modern and more large,
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And, of course, so much comes down to will, to courage, to leadership,
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Here's the top military man in America called the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
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I do think it's important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded
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And the United States Military Academy is a university.
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And it is important that we train and we understand.
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So, what is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building
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and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America?
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Because our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and guardians,
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So, it is important that the leaders, now and in the future, do understand it.
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having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?
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And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military,
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our general officers, our non-commissioned officers,
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Because we're studying some theories that are out there.
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That was started at Harvard Law School years ago.
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And it proposed that there were laws in the United States,
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that led to a power differential with African Americans
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that were three-quarters of a human being when this country was formed.
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And then we had a Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation to change it.
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And we brought it up to the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
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And I respect your service, and you and I are both Green Berets.
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And it matters to our military and the discipline and cohesion of this military.
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And while you're indoctrinating them in wokeness,
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why not fire any soldier who doesn't want to get vaxxed,
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Imagine what that would do to morale and to recruitment.
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Do you think that America's military today would beat Russia in a hot war?
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You know, last night when Russia was invading, Donald Trump made a public statement.
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He just made a public statement directly to the media.
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He didn't make an announcement this morning either.
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We've shared declassified evidence about Russia's plans and cyberattacks and false pretexts
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so that there could be no confusion or cover-up about what Putin was doing.
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And now he and his country will bear the consequences.
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Today, I'm authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia.
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This is going to impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.
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We have purposefully designed these sanctions to maximize the long-term impact on Russia
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and to minimize the impact on the United States and our allies.
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The world's leaders were largely unified in their rejection of Putin's invasion.
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For our part today, the UK is announcing the largest and most severe package
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of economic sanctions that Russia has ever seen.
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With new financial measures, we're taking new powers to target Russian finance
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in addition to the banks we've already sanctioned this week.
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Today, in concert with the United States, we are imposing a full asset freeze on VTB.
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More broadly, these powers will enable us totally to exclude Russian banks
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from the UK financial system, which is of course by far the largest in Europe,
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stopping them from accessing sterling and clearing payments through the UK.
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And with around half of Russia's trade, currently in US dollars and sterling,
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I'm pleased to tell the House that the United States is taking similar measures.
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These powers will also enable us to ban Russian state and private companies from raising funds
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in the UK, banning dealing with their securities and making loans to them.
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We will limit the amount of money that Russian nationals will be able to deposit
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And sanctions will also be applied to Belarus for its role in the assault on Ukraine.
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Overall, we will be imposing asset freezes on more than 100 new entities and individuals,
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on top of the hundreds that we've already announced.
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This includes all the major manufacturers that support Putin's war machine.
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Furthermore, we are also banning Aeroflot from the UK.
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Next, on top of these financial measures and in full concert with the United States and the EU,
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we will introduce new trade restrictions and stringent export controls,
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similar to those that they in the US are implementing.
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We will bring forward new legislation to ban the export of all dual-use items to Russia,
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including a range of high-end and critical technological equipment and components
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in sectors, including electronics, telecommunications and aerospace.
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Legislation to implement this will be laid early next week.
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These trade sanctions will constrain Russia's military, industrial
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and technological capabilities for years to come.
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America apparently wanted to go further and ban Russia from the international money-clearing system
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called the SWIFT system, but Germany vetoed that.
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Here's Biden basically shrugging his shoulders, saying
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he doesn't actually think sanctions will stop Vladimir Putin from doing anything.
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Number two, no one expected the sanctions to prevent anything from happening.
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It has to show, this is going to take time, and we have to show resolve so he knows what's coming.
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And so the people of Russia know what he's brought on them.
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I think showing weakness is how not to beat him, and that's pure Biden and Trudeau, for that matter.
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It's a bit weird to hear Trudeau talk about authoritarian regimes after putting Canada
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So sanctions could work on Russia unless, say, China is there to provide whatever economic access
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Energy is very important, which is why Trump was opposed to the Nord Stream pipeline
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Biden approved of that pipeline that Trump had stalled.
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Biden also canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing oil down from Canada to America.
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In the 24 hours after Putin recognized two breakaway Ukrainian republics,
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the U.S. and its allies bought $700 million in Russian oil, gas, and commodities.
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Absolutely, and Canada bought some of that too.
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So Canada buys Russian oil for the largest refinery in Canada, which is in St. John, New Brunswick.
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As Biden and Jen Psaki keep saying, the price for that will be borne by Americans in higher oil prices.
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But even without all this going on, gas in California is almost $5 a gallon.
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Should people across the country expect to see that kind of a number when they go to gas up their car?
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Well, again, I think as you heard the president say last week, standing up for our values is not without cost.
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So I don't have a prediction of it right now because we're trying to minimize the impact on the global energy market.
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So Biden says the sanctions won't stop Putin, but Biden and Psaki say that the sanctions will cause pain in America with higher gas prices.
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And of course, higher gas prices are great for Russia because so much of their economy is based on oil and gas.
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Well, it's because in part we made Greta Thunberg our energy policymaker, that Swedish teenager.
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This is a bad day for Ukrainians, but do you think it's going to stop here?
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I think he controls Europe more than they control him.
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I think the sanctions will hurt the West more than they help him.
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I think high oil prices are exactly what he wants.
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I'm worried about Ukraine, but really I'm thinking about what comes next.
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And what more damage can be done until Joe Biden is thrown out in three years?
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Well, as you know, over the course of our seven years, our reporters have been attacked several times.
00:22:04.960
I remember when our friend Sheila Gunn-Reed was literally assaulted at the Women's March by a new Democrat activist who wasn't a woman.
00:22:16.520
And actually, every year, a reporter of ours gets hit or attacked or spat on or shoved, usually by some Antifa leftists.
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And as you know, one of the things we do is we hire security guards for our people to protect against the rabid left.
00:22:35.280
But what do you do when it's the government you need protection from?
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A security guard will never take up arms or put his hands up to fight against a police officer.
00:22:50.120
And if a security guard tries to stop a cop, well, he'll be arrested himself.
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And so it is that when we deployed our reporters to the trucker rebellion in Ottawa, we didn't have security because the threat was not from the peaceful truckers.
00:23:08.000
And our reporter, Guillaume Waugh, was pepper sprayed.
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Here's a picture of him having taken a face full of pepper spray from police.
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He was obviously doing nothing violent of any sort.
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They pepper sprayed him because they knew he was with Rebel News.
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But of course, the worst thing that has ever happened to Rebel News in our seven years was the brutal and violent attack on our Quebec reporter, Alexa Lavoie, who was beaten with clubs by police and then shot at point blank range with a gun that used to fire tear gas canisters, shot in the leg.
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We all saw it in real time since we were live streaming.
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I spoke to Alexa within half an hour of it happening.
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And I had seen a photograph of where the tear gas canister was shot at her leg.
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She insisted on continuing to report from the front lines.
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Only later that night did she go to the hospital.
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I'm so sorry for what happened to you on the weekend.
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And I know that you suffered for your journalism, which you did for all of us.
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You were there showing the world what was happening.
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But it was almost predictable because many times before that happened,
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I was hit a couple of times, pushing the ground.
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I was continuing to report on the front line because I wanted to show the world
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how the police was acting on a peaceful protester that day.
00:26:00.880
And I think it's important because who else will show what is going on?
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Most of the mainstream or state media have said that protester was violent,
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I was like, the gas is not coming from the protester.
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Same if the Ottawa police have said that they were not using chemical products
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The Ottawa police account was a disinformation account on Twitter.
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It was pumping out the exact opposite of what was happening.
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Even when that police riot horse charged into the crowd and stomped on an elderly lady
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who had a mobility scooter, the Ottawa police Twitter account actually said that,
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no, no, that was someone attacking the horse with a bicycle.
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If it weren't for you and other rebel reporters,
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and there were a handful of other independent journalists on the ground,
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Now, I spoke with you that day, and you were in great pain,
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but you chose to continue reporting, which I thought was amazing.
00:27:15.420
You did later that night go to the hospital, am I right?
00:27:19.360
Yes, so I went to the hospital just for having a medical record,
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but as well to see if other problems will go on afterwards.
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I want to be sure that I have the record that is coming from that shot
00:27:36.440
Well, I'm glad you went there, and I hope you've been taking some medicine for the pain,
00:27:46.160
that we have asked our two general counsel lawyers to file two legal actions on your behalf.
00:27:52.920
The first one, a lawsuit against the police for attacking you,
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for shooting you with what could have been a deadly weapon,
00:28:02.860
So we're going to sue the police for their misconduct and their abuse.
00:28:07.040
But we're also going to file a legal complaint with something called the SIU,
00:28:12.820
which stands for the Special Investigations Unit, if I'm not mistaken.
00:28:16.880
That's the Ontario Commission that looks into police violence.
00:28:21.900
They're a full-time commission that looks into police violence.
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but we're also going to have the Police Oversight Committee look into it.
00:28:30.620
And we are providing two lawyers for that because we believe it's very important.
00:28:37.580
I don't know how either of those things are going to go,
00:28:42.280
And I think you've been in touch with the lawyers already.
00:28:49.220
And I was a little bit in shock when David Menzies asked the police
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And when they said that they were not aware of this accident,
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but at the end, it took the time to say that he's sorry
00:29:04.580
and he's with the state media who have been yelling name against them.
00:29:09.120
And nothing about me and saying, like, we are so sorry for you
00:29:16.840
I was like, that is actually the most rude thing in my face happening.
00:29:24.960
This is David Menzies at the police press conference.
00:29:32.280
Either he was lying, which I think is the case,
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or if he does not know that his officers shot someone and beat someone,
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if he did not know that, either way, he should be fired.
00:29:50.280
Chief, can you kindly explain how it was that my colleague to my right here,
00:29:55.520
Alexa Lavoie, was shot point blank with a tear gas canister
00:30:06.720
given that she was simply practicing journalism in the public square?
00:30:11.660
So I'm unfamiliar with the incident you're speaking of.
00:30:14.960
What I can tell you is that there is complaint mechanisms,
00:30:18.360
there is review mechanisms that will be engaged following this
00:30:24.440
I'll also say that it's been my observations and experience
00:30:29.800
through the amazing extensive journalism coverage that's occurred through this
00:30:33.600
that the vast majority of our members have been extremely professional.
00:30:37.980
They have executed an extremely methodical plan
00:30:42.780
that has been focused on the safety of the residents,
00:30:48.140
and the safety of the people engaged in the protest.
00:31:01.560
But when a police officer shoots you at point blank range,
00:31:05.680
and tear gas canisters are not meant to be shot at people.
00:31:09.360
They're meant to be shot and then the gas emits from them.
00:31:19.940
But to misuse and deliberately abuse a tear gas canister
00:31:26.120
and shoot it at someone like it is a weapon to deliberately hurt them,
00:31:31.740
I think that that is actually a crime that was committed against you.
00:31:36.940
And we'll see what the SIU and the courts have to say.
00:31:41.260
I think this is the worst thing ever to happen to any rebel journalist.
00:31:50.020
Because you have been the most energetic reporter covering the Trucker Rebellion.
00:31:54.940
I think you've been in Ottawa for almost a month now.
00:32:03.400
But I showed just the truth of what is happening.
00:32:10.900
And now they just try to show the opposite of the rest of the world,
00:32:14.660
that this movement was a violent, misogynist, and racist movement.
00:32:19.360
And we should be scared and protect like the rest of the citizens,
00:32:26.720
Right now on the ground, with all the police state that it is right now,
00:32:32.020
I feel more in danger for my life than when the truck convoy was there.
00:32:37.960
Well, you also tracked down the elderly lady who was stomped on by horses here.
00:32:45.140
Of course, our viewers can find the whole video elsewhere on our site.
00:32:48.380
Here's a little clip of you talking to that lady who was stomped on.
00:32:52.880
After they trembled me, there was an officer that,
00:33:06.860
And another one dragged me by my coat off the premises.
00:33:21.000
But I walked right on by any more lines and walked back into safety.
00:33:26.160
Because outside of our circle, it didn't feel safe.
00:33:30.740
When I was back in with the convoy, I felt safe.
00:33:35.520
So when that happened and you were in the ground,
00:33:42.960
No, they were all showing me anger and aggression.
00:33:50.180
Well, he aggressively helped me out of the area
00:34:48.780
Doesn't look like I'll be driving anytime soon.
00:35:04.020
Incredibly, the police said that she attacked the horses.
00:35:46.700
Hated the fact that you asked a particular question.
00:35:50.600
And it's almost as if you could see in his eyes,