By The opinion
Apr 24, 2024, 01:20 AM EDT
Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated the approval of $60 billion in aid to Ukraine on Tuesday before its final vote, while lamenting the fact that it took months to get enough republican support to get it.
At a press conference, The Republican senator from Kentucky pointed to two men responsible for that delay: former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former President Donald Trump.
“The demonization of Ukraine began with Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell told reporters. “And so he had a huge audience, which convinced a lot of rank-and-file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake.”
“I think the former president had mixed views on aid to Ukraine,” he added, before alluding to the failed attempt to add border security provisions to the bill, “which requires dealing with Democrats and then with several of our members. “I thought I wasn’t good enough.”
On Tuesday, the Senate approved an aid package for its allies, including $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Taiwan, on a bipartisan vote.
McConnell said he remains committed to working to help regain a Republican majority in the Senate, despite his plans to step away from the leadership at the end of the year.
He also said he believes the group of candidates Republicans have recruited for the 2024 elections is more inclined to move away from the party’s recent isolationist tendencies.
The package’s difficulties in the House led to a long period in which Ukraine was without aid, mainly because right-wing House Republicans argued that the money should not be spent abroad but should be spent here at home on border security. .
McConnell said some of the blame lies with the Biden administration for not recognizing the need sooner and reacting, but he acknowledged that Congress should have acted and reacted more quickly as well.
“Acting faster, partly thanks to the administration and partly thanks to Congress, and not passing this bill sooner, has not been helpful,” McConnell said.
Keep reading:
– The Senate approved aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with bipartisan votes
– Biden: Message sent to the world about the power of American leadership with aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan
– The House of Representatives approved aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan