Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell recently said former President Ronald Reagan would “turn over in his grave” at the current GOP’s views on helping Ukraine win its war against Russia.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded the Eastern European country in February 2022. Most recently, he has shown a willingness to work with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, on President Joe Biden’s request of nearly $106 billion worth of aid, which includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel to support its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas following their surprise attack on October 7.
However, other members of the Republican Party do not see an importance to keep funding Ukraine’s war. Newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, decoupled the president’s aid package and pushed a standalone aid package of $14.3 billion to Israel, which the House passed on November 2. The bill was blocked by the Democrat-controlled Senate on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans released a proposal on Monday regarding policy changes on immigration, mainly focusing on limiting migrants’ ability to enter or stay in the United States once they are apprehended. Senate Republicans will demand that the proposal be attached to any funding package for Ukraine.
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“Honestly, I think Ronald Reagan would turn over in his grave if he saw we were not going to help Ukraine,” McConnell told The Associated Press this week.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, at a time when the now-late Reagan was fighting the Cold War against the now-dissolved Soviet Union.
The senator told the AP that cutting off aid to Ukraine would be “a huge setback for the United States,” and its reputation as the leader of the free world.
McConnell also explained how the U.S.’s foreign policy shifted after the Cold War to focus on terrorism. However, as tensions grow between the U.S. and its adversaries, China and Russia, and Israel continues its operation in Gaza following Hamas’ attack, the senator said “what we have now is both the terrorism issue and the big power competition issue all at the same time, which is why I think singling out one of these problems to the exclusion of the others is a mistake.”
Newsweek reached out to McConnell and Johnson via email for comment.
Some senators, meanwhile, believe that Johnson is more aligned with their views.
“I think the fact that Speaker Johnson has a little bit more agency is in part because he is the Speaker of the House,” Senator J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican who is against a combined aid package for Ukraine and Israel, told the AP. “But it’s also important because he has a membership that is much, much more in tune with where Republican voters actually are.”
Senator Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has also criticized Ukraine funding, told the AP that “nationally, the Republican leader right now is the speaker of the House of Representatives.”
However, there are Republican senators who disagree with Johnson’s efforts to decouple the aid package.
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina recently told reporters, “I support the package staying together. I think Secretary [of State Antony] Blinken and [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin gave a good answer why we should not break it apart. At the end of the day, I think all of these conflicts have to be dealt with strongly, and they should be dealt with together.”
Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, told CNN, “My view is that the substantial majority of members of the House, as well as the substantial majority of senators, support for Ukraine and Israel, combined.”
Meanwhile, Make America Great Again (MAGA) supporters criticized Johnson for aiding another country while there are issues domestically.
“MIKE JOHNSON PUTS ISRAEL 1ST KNOWING THERE ARE 4 MILLION ILLEGAL RIDING TRAIN CARAVANS THROUGH MEXICO,” Rumble personality Ryan Matta said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, late last month.
“Politicians are incapable of putting America First!” Donald Trump supporter Cynthia Holt wrote about Johnson.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.