I watched a partial video of a town hall by Roger Marshall, junior senator from Kansas. The topic was the Russian/Ukrainian war, and the Trump/Vance/Zelenskyy debacle on Friday.
Here’s how Republicans are spinning what happened with Trump and Vance when they ambushed Zelenskyy.
- The war did not have a beginning, it just magically happened.
- If it continues, it will be World War III, and let’s throw in nuclear to scare people.
- Europe should have stepped up. This is Europe’s fight, not ours.
- A million people have died.
- This is all Biden’s fault
- Trump just wants to have peace
This is the stuff you scrape off your boot after walking through a barnyard.
- The war did have a beginning. Putin was the aggressor. And when he promised not to be aggressive, he lied and became even more aggressive. What Putin wants is a Ukraine loyal to him, and he will accept nothing else.
- Putin is the one tossing out the threat of nuclear weapons, which to me, makes Russia a threat regardless of what’s happening in Ukraine.
- In close to three years, Europe has spent $138.7 billion on Ukraine, while the US has spent $119.7 billion. Europe stepped up.
- It’s difficult to count the numbers of dead and wounded. Russia isn’t honest with its counts, and Ukraine doesn’t have counts from occupied territories. But the likely number, though tragic and high, is not a million.
- This is Putin’s fault. According to Marshall, Republicans wanted funds for Ukraine but Biden said no. In actuality, it is primarily Congressional Democrats who fought for funds for Ukraine, while the GOP bickered among themselves. The only time the GOP pushed Biden to support Ukraine is shortly after he took office when they were the minority party. Once they took over the House, their interest in helping Ukraine drastically declined. It was up to the Democrats to put real money on the table.
- Trump wants tax cuts for the rich. Anything that takes money away from this one single goal is trash to him. Our government, our allies, our healthcare, people’s lives…if it takes money away from tax cuts for the rich, it’s trash to Trump. And Trump likes Putin, because Putin makes him feel special.
We supported Ukraine because it was a country with a true democracy invaded by a totalitarian aggressor intent on domination. And we have long known that Putin is a danger to more than Ukraine. I just never thought I would live to see a US President openly embrace Putin.
Sources
Putin uses NATO as an excuse for his war against Ukrainian statehood
Bluff and bluster: Why Putin revised Russia’s nuclear doctrine
How much has the US given to Ukraine?
Fact check: Trump makes numerous false claims at Cabinet meeting
Republicans try to out-hawk Biden on Ukraine aid
Can Biden keep U.S. aid flowing to Ukraine amid GOP chaos in House?
Why are some Republicans opposing more aid for Ukraine?
What is the death toll of Russia’s war in Ukraine?