{"id":4939,"date":"2024-02-25T15:46:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-25T07:46:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4939"},"modified":"2024-02-25T15:46:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T07:46:22","slug":"skepticism-over-ukraine-aid-pervasive-at-cpac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4939","title":{"rendered":"Skepticism over Ukraine aid pervasive at CPAC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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National Harbor, Md. \u2014 This year\u2019s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) underscored the clear divide among Republicans on aid to Ukraine, with speakers and attendees largely expressing their opposition to giving the nation more assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for two years, but Democrats and some Republicans have been supportive of offering further aid to the Eastern European country. The Senate passed bipartisan legislation this month that includes assistance geared toward Ukraine and Israel, for it\u2019s ongoing war against Palestinian militant group Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, a vocal faction of the Republican Party are pushing back against giving more money to Ukraine, as lawmakers argued at CPAC that the U.S. needs to focus more on domestic issues, like border security, and as some cast doubt that Ukraine can win against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that it is absurd for us to devote so many resources, so much attention and so much time to a border conflict 6,000 miles away when our own U.S. southern border is wide open,\u201d Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) argued Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of providing Ukraine with additional resources has become a lightning rod issue among former President Trump and Republican lawmakers. Trump, and many conservatives, have argued that the Biden administration is more interested in foreign conflicts than what\u2019s happening in their own backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDecide, Joe Biden, which country matters more to you: The border of the United States or the border of Ukraine?\u201d Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump and his allies have also expressed frustration around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), saying allies that are a part of the military alliance have not been following a commitment to put 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) toward defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former president made headlines earlier this month when he suggested that he would let Russia do \u201cwhatever the hell they want\u201d if that defense spending commitment wasn\u2019t adhered to by a NATO country \u2014 though some attendees at CPAC either shrugged off the comment or said that would have been a step too far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur European allies, which consists of some very wealthy nations, underspend on their own defense, because they dupe you into paying for much of it,\u201d Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told CPAC attendees Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg projected earlier this month that 18 NATO nations would meet the defense spending commitment this year, saying \u201cEuropean allies are spending more. However, some allies still have a ways to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, a cohort of Republicans still believe it\u2019s in U.S. interests to continue supporting Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, senators voted to pass emergency defense spending bill that included the support of most Democrats and 22 Republicans that would put $60 billion toward aiding Ukraine and $14 billion toward Israel. The legislation, however, faces an uncertain future given House Speaker Mike Johnson\u2019s (R-La.) opposition to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Senate understands the responsibilities of America\u2019s national security and will not neglect them,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement after the Senate passed the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur adversaries want America to decide that reinforcing allies and partners is not in our interest, and that investing in strategic competition is not worth it,\u201d he added. \u201cThey want us to take hard-earned credibility and light it on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, reasoned in a statement that lawmakers were stepping up to fill a void left by President Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy strengthening and equipping America to push back against our adversaries\u2019 aggression, Congress has stepped up to do the job this President will not,\u201d she said. \u201cThis step is critical to reversing President Biden\u2019s weakness on the world stage that has abandoned our partners, emboldened authoritarians, and put American lives at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Monday that Moscow is \u201ctaking advantage of the delays in aid to Ukraine.\u201d Lawmakers in recent days have traveled to Ukraine to meet with Zelensky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and a handful of Senate Democrats met with Zelensky Friday during a trip to Ukraine as they looked to underscore support for the country as it defends itself against Russia. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers met with the Ukrainian leader earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Republicans keen to continue aiding Ukraine have found themselves at a crossroads with members of the party who have taken a more isolationist foreign policy approach. That message was not lost among attendees at CPAC, whose slogan this year was \u201cwhere globalism goes to die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is outrageous that too many people in the media, the Democratic Party and Joe Biden are trying to pull us into a war in Europe, no talk of peace deals. No talk of sitting down and resolving age-old conflicts,\u201d claimed Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), another Trump ally who also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he voted against the emergency defense spending bill \u201cbecause I know they can\u2019t win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many attendees at CPAC told The Hill they were also against or expressed skepticism toward further aid to Ukraine, echoing comments made by Trump and Republican lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbsolutely not. 100 percent not,\u201d said Christine Blanchard, a visitor from California. \u201cIt\u2019s not our war, and we have plenty of problems domestically to take care of. Our funds should not be going to that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the beginning of the conflict, I think we were all \u2013 all on board with that,\u201d another visitor from Virginia, Ana Viso, responded. \u201cI think now, as the crisis in our own country\u2019s getting worse with our own border, I feel that we are \u2013 we should be moving more towards negotiations and trying to make peace between those two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viso acknowledged that while the U.S. \u201cshould be concerned about Putin,\u201d she added that \u201cwe also I think have to look inward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But others at the conference, including former lawmakers, believe the issue isn\u2019t so black and white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt makes no sense for the United States from a national security perspective, not to support our allies who are engaged with enemies of the United States,\u201d said former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.). \u201cRussia is an enemy of the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santorum added that the fissure between Republicans around offering further aid to Ukraine baffled him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an alien view of thought to me as someone who\u2019s been around the Republican Party for a long time,\u201d the former lawmaker explained. \u201cI understand that there is \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of sentiment because of the war in Afghanistan and particularly Iraq, that people are concerned about foreign commitments. But, you know, \u2026 these are apples and oranges.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Harbor, Md. \u2014 This year\u2019s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) underscored the clear divide among Republicans on aid to Ukraine, with speakers and attendees largely expressing their opposition to giving the nation more assistance. Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has dragged on for two years, but Democrats and some Republicans have been supportive of offering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nSkepticism over Ukraine aid pervasive at CPAC - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=4939\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Skepticism over Ukraine aid pervasive at CPAC - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"National Harbor, Md. \u2014 This year\u2019s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) underscored the clear divide among Republicans on aid to Ukraine, with speakers and attendees largely expressing their opposition to giving the nation more assistance. 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