J.D. Vance Calls Depriving Ukraine of Aid His Second Biggest Priority in Senate
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) admitted that depriving Ukraine of aid is his second biggest priority in the upper chamber of Congress on Friday.
In a series of social media posts defending Donald Trump over the GOP frontrunner’s interference in negotiations to devote additional resources to both border security and Ukraine being spearheaded by Senator James Lankford (R-OK), an immigration hawk, Vance called the border “the one issue I care about more” than denying support to the war-torn country still in the throes of a defensive conflict against Russia.
“No one has seen the border deal, and even its advocates admit it will do little to secure the border immediately. Blaming Donald Trump or any Republican for killing this deal is political malpractice,” argued Vance. “Joe Biden ended remain in Mexico. He paroles nearly 1 million illegal aliens a year when the last Democratic administration (Obama) paroled about 5,000 a year. He is currently attacking Texas for taking affirmative steps to control the border.”
He continued:
I am perhaps the senate’s most vocal critic of additional Ukraine aid, but the border is the one issue I care about more.
Here’s a deal that might work: Joe Biden cuts illegal border crossings by 90 percent, then (and only then) does Congress consider more money for Ukraine.
That deal is not on the table. It never has been. Why? Because Republicans went into this negotiation desperate to make a deal that gets Ukraine more money rather than desperate to get a deal that immediately secures the border. We gave our leverage away before we sat down.
I am perhaps the senate’s most vocal critic of additional Ukraine aid, but the border is the one issue I care about more.
Here’s a deal that might work: Joe Biden cuts illegal border crossings by 90 percent, then (and only then) does Congress consider more money for Ukraine.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) January 26, 2024
During his 2022 campaign, Vance famously declared that he didn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.” He later backtracked, insisting “we want the Ukrainians to be successful,” but has nevertheless turned out to be, as he dubbed himself, “the senate’s most vocal critic” of continuing to provide aid.
Last April, Vance insisted that Ukraine is the “most corrupt” country in Europe in a speech at the Heritage Foundation.
