Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) backed up President Biden’s statement that aid from Ukraine is actually spent in 38 different states in the US.
The exchange between Margret Brennon and Sen. McConnell on CBS’s Face The Nation:
Minority Leader McConnell: If you look at the Ukraine assistance, let’s talk about where the money is really going. A significant portion of it is spent in the United States in 38 different states, replacing the weapons we sent to Ukraine with more modern weapons. So we’re rebuilding our industrial base.
Margaret Brennan: That’s what President Biden is seeking to do.
Minority Leader McConnell: It’s correct. No Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We’re rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that. I think it’s wonderful that they’re defending themselves- and also the notion that the Europeans are not doing enough. They’ve done almost 90 billion dollars, they’re housing a bunch of refugees who escaped. I think that our NATO allies in Europe have done quite a lot.
Video of McConnell:
President Biden raised the point in his Oval Office address last week that when House and Senate Republicans oppose aid to Ukraine what they are actually opposing is aid to the United States. The US gives part of its weapons and equipment stockpile to Ukraine and then replenishes the supplies needed for national defense with congressionally appropriated funds.
Republicans who oppose aid to Ukraine are harming American national security. Those Republicans are saying that they want to make America weaker and less safe because that is what blocking aid to Ukraine does.
Democrats don’t agree with Mitch McConnell on much of anything, but the Senator from Kentucky is right about how aid to Ukraine benefits the US.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association