Pence calls out Republican 'Russia apologists,' as midterms could threaten Ukraine aid
CBC
Former U.S. vice-president Mike Pence made the rounds in Washington this week with some high-profile speeches, becoming almost misty-eyed in describing how Ronald Reagan helped galvanize his transition from a young Democratic Party supporter to a staunch Republican.
Republicans have long lionized Reagan for projecting American strength in dealing with the Soviet Union in the last years of the Cold War era. But today's GOP only rarely resembles the hawkish foreign policy group that stretched from Reagan through to the George W. Bush presidency.
In a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Pence lamented some recent comments coming from Republicans in Congress when it comes to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
"There can be no room in the conservative movement for apologists to [Vladimir] Putin. There is only room in this movement for champions of freedom," he said.
"Appeasement has never worked, ever, in history."
Pence's comments came a day after Kevin McCarthy, potentially the next Speaker, raised hackles with comments on future Ukraine aid if the Republicans win control of the House after next month's midterms.
"I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they're not going to write a blank cheque to Ukraine," McCarthy told Punchbowl News.
Those comments followed a key stopgap funding bill late last month to avoid a government shutdown, which also included Ukraine aid. Only about two handfuls of House Republicans supported it; McCarthy and his leadership team were not on board.
In the spring, 57 House Republicans in the Democratic-led House voted Nay on a specific Ukraine aid bill.
The stakes are huge for Ukraine, of course, and for Western unity against Russia.
American security assistance since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 stood at more than $17.5 billion US after a munitions and military vehicle package was announced last week, while U.S. supplies of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) have been viewed as consequential in Ukraine's fight.
According to a recent analysis from The Economist, the American support of military, financial and humanitarian aid, in total dollars, dwarfs the sum total of that given by the European Union and Europe's NATO members (though given the sheer size of the U.S. economy, several small- to medium-sized European countries have given a greater share as a percentage of GDP).
Democratic congressman Eric Swalwell, in an op-ed for Newsweek directed at McCarthy's comments, feared the symbolic message a significant reduction in U.S. support could bring, both in stopping the gains Ukraine have made on the battlefield but also for the "hopes for democracies worldwide."
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy tweeted concern that Republican ambivalence is affecting how the American public views Ukraine aid, too.
