CPAC Crowd Loudly Boos Giving Ukraine More Aid As Speaker Johnson Promises It Won’t Happen

 

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the Conservative Political Action Committee that there is “no appetite” for another funding bill for the war in Ukraine, a notion the crowd loudly booed.

Newsmax’s Rob Finnerty asked Johnson, “In America, we hold presidential elections every four years. We did so during Covid. We did so during the Second World War. We did so during the Civil War. During the War of 1812, the White House was burned to the ground three months before James Madison was elected. How important is it for Ukraine to hold presidential elections?”

“Well, it’s very important, of course,” Johnson replied.

“Because they were canceled last spring,” Finnerty noted.

“That’s right. That’s right. And the president has pointed that out,” Johnson added.

“And they claim to be a democracy,” Finnerty quipped.

Notably, Ukraine hasn’t held elections as the country is currently under martial law, which suspended them under their constitution. Additionally, commentators have noted that with millions of Ukrainians living as refugees overseas, the constant rocket attacks on the country, and a large portion of the population living under Russian occupation – elections would be logistically very difficult to hold.

“That’s right. We need an end to the conflict. And what I’ve explained, I’ve done two panels at two different events this morning. I started the Republican Governors Association and they asked me about this. And I went to the big business leaders, Fortune 500 executives there. They all want to know the same thing. What is President Trump doing there?” Johnson replied, adding:

I said you got to give him room to operate and do what he does. He’s doing a level set, right. You’ve got to get both parties to come and bring about an end to this conflict, which will serve America’s interest and everybody’s interest around the world. But I think of it very much like a mediation or arbitration. If you’re a lawyer, you know, I’m a recovering lawyer. Forgive me if I think of those terms. But when you start a mediation and you start an arbitration between two parties, you don’t bring them into the room for that first meeting. You do it separately.

So I think Zelensky complaining that he wasn’t invited to the first meeting with Saudi Arabia in Russia is misplaced. I mean, what Trump’s trying to do is do a level set, put the conditions in place for that real negotiator’s negotiation, negotiation to happen. And we’ve got to allow him to do what he does. Remember, he wrote The Art of the Deal. He knows what he’s doing.

“Absolutely. If that level set takes, let’s say three, six months or it drags on, do you see another funding bill for the war in Ukraine?” Finnerty followed up.

“Look, there’s no appetite for that. What do you think?” Johnson said turning to the crowd, which booed loudly.

“We’ve got our answer there,” Finnerty noted.

“We have to we have to bring it to an end. And I can tell you that our European allies understand the necessity of this as well. It’s drug on too long. By some estimates, Russia has lost almost 700,000 troops, maybe more. The Ukrainians have suffered great losses. We have to bring an end to the conflict. President Trump is exactly right. It’s time for it to end. And he is the brute force I think that can make that happen,” Johnson concluded.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.

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Alex Griffing is a Senior Editor at Mediaite. Send tips via email: alexanderg@mediaite.com. Follow him on Twitter: @alexgriffing