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EXCLUSIVE: ORLANDO, Fla.—Ohio GOP congressional candidate and former Trump administration official Max Miller said Russian President Vladimir Putin saw “weak leadership” from President Biden ahead of launching a multi-front war in Ukraine, which he said emboldened him to invade.
“Putin was playing war games,” Miller told Fox News on the sidelines of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). “He was waiting to see what Biden would do, and then saw that Biden wasn’t going to do anything, so went ahead with his aggression and progressed.”
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Miller said what “scares” him the most is the potential for China to attempt to take Taiwan.
“And what happens if Iran decides to get bold enough o attack Israel?” Miller went on, warning that both situations would involve U.S. troops.
The president, on Thursday, approved the deployment of an additional 7,000 U.S. troops to Germany, but maintained that they would not fight in Ukraine, but rather support and defend NATO allies.
Miller, who was in the U.S. Marine Corps, told Fox News that it is “absolutely disgusting that Biden is playing God with young men and young women’s lives.”
President Donald Trump talks with Deputy Campaign Manager for Presidential Operations Max Miller, left, and director of the Presidential Personnel Office John McEntee, right, before his speech to the Republican National Convention on the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (AP)
“I’ve never been in combat, but I can tell you this—I‘ve lost friends in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’ve seen what these wars have done to young men and women,” Miller said. “We are showing all of our adversaries the playbook on how to infiltrate our country. It is a complete joke, and it says it’s a sham and what he’s really doing is he’s putting young men and women out there is risking their lives.”
Miller warned that “one accidental round sent down range from an American soldier will trigger a full scale war, and people need to think about these consequences before we send troops anywhere.”
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“No more foreign wars need to be happening whatsoever,” he said. “I feel very strongly about that.”
Miller, 33, says he is “the only candidate” in his race who has never run for political office.
“I’ve sat in these rooms with these animals—these congressmen and congresswomen, the senators and governors when they come to town, and I’ve watched how they forgot about everyone who they’re supposed to represent,” he said. “They don’t represent them at all—they represent their own interest.”
Miller said he is “giving a quarter of my salary back to the district, and I’m never going to take a federal pension.”
“Why am I the right guy? I can’t be bought,” he said, telling Fox News he gave his campaign half a million dollars. “That wasn’t to be cavalier, that wasn’t to say I can do this. No, it was to show the world, it was to show the people that I can’t be bought, and I’m here to put America first.”
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He added: “What I can tell you is for the people in my district, they’re going to get a great congressman that is truly going to represent their values, and someone who’s going to give them a voice.”
“And I can’t wait to do that for them,” he said.
Miller announced his 2022 campaign to challenge Ohio Republican Rep. Anthony Gonzalez in February 2021.
Trump endorsed Miller, calling him a “wonderful person who did a great job at the White House,” saying he “will be a fantastic Congressman.”
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“He is a Marine Veteran, a son of Ohio, and a true PATRIOT,” Trump said. “Max Miller has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Miller served on Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 before joining the White House. After a stint in the office of presidential personnel, Miller became White House director of advance. He played a key role in Trump’s reelection bid in 2020, coordinating rallies and other campaign events.