Americans won’t support funding Ukraine forever
Brady Leonard
President Joe Biden made a surprise trip to Eastern Europe last week, including a stop in the war-torn capital Kyiv on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The president assured Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. will support Ukraine “as long as it takes.”
This comes on the heels of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell telling European allies that the GOP is committed to funding Ukraine. McConnell claimed that the movement of Republicans calling for an end to Ukraine funding is “greatly exaggerated” and added, “Don’t look at Twitter. Look at the people in power.”
CONGRESS SHOULD HELP PROTECT UKRAINE’S BORDER AND OURS
McConnell is correct that the people in power currently support funding Ukraine’s war efforts; however, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has spoken out against giving Kyiv a “blank check.” The Republican nominee for president in 2024 will undoubtedly be either Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or former President Donald Trump (no offense to Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Vivek Ramaswamy, and whoever else decides to position themselves for a book deal.) Both Republican front-runners disagree sharply with Biden and McConnell.
Weeks ago, Trump called for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, and DeSantis told Fox & Friends earlier this month, “I think it would behoove [the Biden administration] to identify what is the strategic objective that they’re trying to achieve, but just saying it’s an open-ended blank check, that is not acceptable.”
Biden’s photo-op with Zelensky, complete with a curiously timed appearance by an air raid siren, may shore up Democratic support for the war, but assuming that the Republican nominee for president will almost certainly be calling for limits to American involvement, McConnell and his fellow neoconservatives will need to pivot if they want to avoid a showdown with the base of the party.
Economies still decide elections, and since Democrats in power are doing nothing to combat record-high inflation, the ads criticizing the $77 billion and counting in Ukraine aid write themselves. Even the most pro-war swing voter will have to grapple with the utility of endless foreign aid when the cost of essentials is skyrocketing. Images such as the train derailment that caused an ecological disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, and the unprecedented level of illegal immigration at the southern border make the “America first’” pitch easier by the day.
Biden and McConnell may have the majority on their side right now, but America has been at war for decades, and the economy is teetering. Funding another endless war will, sooner or later, become a political albatross.
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Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a musician, political strategist, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.