Pro-Ukraine Republicans defend themselves against GOP isolationists

Veröffentlicht:

Von:

CNN - Republican MP Michael McCaul criticized members of his party behind closed doors this week because they are parroting Russian disinformation and the arguments of President Vladimir Putin, according to a source that was in the room. McCaul, a former chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives from Texas and a convinced supporter of Ukraine, admitted during a private event on Tuesday with NATO ambassadors and defense ministers that its clear attitude that the USA should play an active role in the containment of Russian aggression in Ukraine, a rare voice within the Republican Party.

McCaul's warning of Russian propaganda

The McCaul's office declined to comment on private statements. He previously warned that Russian propaganda infected "a considerable part" of the base of his party. The change within the party away from the doctrine of former GOP President Ronald Reagan, "Peace through strength", has created a difficult tightrope walk for many Republicans. These try to reconcile their support for Ukraine with the isolation policy perspective of President Donald Trump.

division in the Republican Party

While the Republicans are divided into the continuation of the help for Ukraine in the congress, some members of the party continue to work publicly for the war. This week, GOP MP Don Bacon expressed concerns that loud voices in his party, which support an isolation policy approach, damage the USA and possibly endanger the success of the party.

"This is a winning topic. Nevertheless, the Republicans are split over it," said Bacon in an interview with CNN, after taking part in an event with veterans, in which he performed together with the chairman of the defense committee of the Ukrainian Parliament, MP Oleksandr Lytvynenko,

The relationship between Washington and Kyiv

The relationship between Washington and Kiev has proven to be volatile since Trump's taking office, starting with the temporary suspension and restoration of military and secret service support for Ukraine and a controversial meeting in the Oval Office with the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj at the end of February. In the meantime, the United States has not imposed Russia, while Moscow refused to approve a proposal of the White House for a 30-day ceasefire, and continue to provide conditions for a partial ceasefire in the Black Sea.

public positions against Trump

In this congress, there were only a few cases in which Republicans distanced themselves from Trump, which makes the public statements of the self-proclaimed Reagan supporters all the more remarkable. Two days after Trump's confrontation with Selenskyj, the GOP MP Brian Fitzpatrick took the initiative to speak to Selenskyj's chief of staff and "bring this train back on the rails".

The former leader of the Republican Senate, Mitch McConnell, sharply criticized the Ukraine policy of the Trump administration and the change of course to isolationism. He accused Trump's advisor to show her "embarrassing naivety" in dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin. GOP senator Roger Wicker gave a passionate speech in the Senate and spoke out against reports that the Trump administration was willing to loosen a number of sanctions against Russia. Bacon published an opinion in the New York Times this week with the "My dear Republicans and President Trump, we have to oppose Putin."

strategic public explanations

Some Republicans who have opposed the administration - be it by convicting Trump's claim that Selenskyj is a "dictator", or by the expression of displeasure about the administration's negotiation approaches for an armistice - say that they have to act strategically when they submit public explanations. "There are committee chairers who say: 'Don, you are the spokesman on this matter, you have to keep the topic upright.' Even those who do not express themselves loudly," reported Bacon.

a plea for ally

Despite the fluctuation of public pressure, the GOP MP CNN assure that they feel obliged to regularly put their positions in the background, wherever possible. Republican MP Dusty Johnson from South Dakota admitted that there is sometimes a public-private discrepancy: "The reality is that people always tend to be publicly praised and criticize privately when their team is in the White House.

The GOP MP Joe Wilson from South Carolina always has pins with the Ukrainian and American flags. His cufflinks, a gift from the deputy mayor of Kiev, testify to the success of the Ukrainian armed forces who have sunk the "mother ship" of the Russian Black Sea fleet. He wears them to honor the heroic deeds of Ukrainian soldiers.

"I am a history student and I have the feeling that we have a kind of 1939 when Hitler attacked on September 1," said Wilson, who is co -chair of the Bipartisan Helsinki Commission, and compared the beginning of the Second World War to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Hope for moral clarity

Although he said that he was "not against" Trump's action, he wished that the notorious Oval Office meeting would have been a "private conversation". He likes to remember an encounter that he had last year with the chairman of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, at the RNC Congress in Milwaukee when he confirmed in front of a room full of ambassadors from the European Union to be a "Reagan trailer". "I broke out in applause," recalled Wilson.

Johnson, who risked his office last year to approved important funds for foreign aids, has significantly reduced and recently released Trump on this topic. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, Johnson shook his head when he was asked whether he was seeing another financing request for the war in Ukraine. "There is no appetite for that," said the spokesman. "What do you think?" The audience of the extreme right broke out in Buh calls.