Adam Kinzinger calls Josh Hawley 'one of the worst human beings' and a 'con artist' after the senator urges Biden to block Ukraine from joining NATO

• Kinzinger criticized Hawley over his stance on how the US should handle the Russian-Ukraine crisis.
• "I hate to be so personal, but Hawley is one of the worst human beings," Kinzinger tweeted.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger blasted Sen. Josh Hawley Wednesday after the senator criticized President Joe Biden for ordering troops to Europe as Russia ramped up its preparations for what could be an invasion of Ukraine, while calling on the White House to block Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance.

"I hate to be so personal, but Hawley is one of the worst human beings, and a self egrandizing con artist," Kinzinger wrote on Twitter. "When Trump goes down I certainly hope this evil will be laid in the open for all to see, and be ashamed of."

Insider caught up with Hawley Wednesday and showed him Kinzinger's tweet, which he was seeing for the first time.

"And what prompts this outburst?" Hawley asked. When we informed him that Kinzinger seemed to be taking issue with Hawley's stance on Ukraine's relationship with NATO, he laughed. "Weird," he said.

Responding to Hawley's comments in a tweet, Kinzinger said: "It is weird. We are in weird times. Like having a Senator more interested in pleasing Tucker and playing to worst instincts than leading. Denying Jan 6th truth despite fomenting it, among other things."

This isn't the first time Kinzinger has attacked Hawley. Kinzinger, a member of the House's January 6, 2021, committee and one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection, previously criticized the senator for bragging about his role in leading the effort to object to the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

Hawley's position on Ukraine, which was first reported by Axios, mirrors that of the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and other conservative commentators who have questioned whether it's in America's interest to firmly align NATO behind Ukraine.

"Such a deployment can only detract from the US military's ability to ready and modernize forces to deter China in the Indo-Pacific," Hawley, who is from Missouri and widely viewed as a prospective presidential candidate, wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Hawley said US support for Ukraine's eventual admission into NATO, a policy President George W. Bush's administration set in motion, was not strong enough "to justify committing the United States to go to war with Russia over Ukraine's fate."

"We should urgently deliver to Ukraine assistance it needs to defend itself against Russia's military buildup and other threats," Hawley said.

The US has provided Ukraine with roughly $2.7 billion in security assistance since 2014 — the year that Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea — including $650 million in the past year. Russia has also supported rebels in a war against Ukrainian forces since 2014.

The Biden administration has said Russia it will face severe economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine. The Pentagon on Wednesday also announced that Biden formally approved the deployment of US troops to NATO member countries in Eastern Europe to serve as a signal of Washington's support for the alliance. But Biden has ruled out sending troops into Ukraine to defend it against Russia, given Ukraine is not a NATO member.