Former Vice President Mike Pence seemed frustrated he had to defend the US investment in the war in Ukraine from leaders of his own party during an interview on Fox News.
On Wednesday, Mr Pence sat down with Fox News’ John Roberts to discuss the state of the nation and the upcoming midterm elections. Mr Roberts asked Mr Pence for his thoughts on a statement recently made by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggesting the party wanted to reel-in US military support of Ukraine as it continues to battle invading Russian forces.
“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy … has said if Republicans take the gavel, that America will no longer be a ‘blank cheque’ for the war in Ukraine. Do you take issue with that?” Mr Roberts asked.
Mr Pence paused and let out a long sigh before answering.
"You know the United States throughout our history has understood that we need to be the leader of the free world. That includes being the arsenal of democracy," Mr Pence said.
The former vice president then invoked images of the Cold War as he recalled the numerous conflicts that the US fueled against governments and rebel groups that were backed by the Soviet Union.
In the 1980s, the US supported the mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan — many who later became the Taliban — as they fought to oust the Soviets from their country. The US also backed the Contras in Nicaragua, who committed numerous war crimes against civilians, religious clerics and foreign aid workers in their fight against the left-wing Sandinistas group, which had also been accused of mass executions.
"In the days of Ronald Reagan, we understood the value of confronting. The value of confronting the Russians and the communists in the world, not by necessarily fighting them directly, but by making sure the people that were fighting the communists, whether in our hemisphere or in other places around the world, had the resources that they need," Mr Pence said. "I think this is such a fight."
Mr McCarthy defended his comments on Wednesday, saying he supported Ukraine’s fight against Russia, but cited the national debt — which grew by nearly $7.8 trillion under former President Donald Trump — as a reason for tightening the nation’s purse-strings.
“I think Ukraine is very important. I support making sure that we move forward to defeat Russia in that program. But there should be no blank check on anything. We are $31 trillion in debt,” Mr McCarthy said during a CNBC interview.
The House minority leader made his initial comments during an interview with Punchbowl News. He said he was shocked his comments made headlines.
“It’s amazing to me that that somehow made news,” Mr McCarthy said. “Wouldn’t you want a check and balance in Congress? Wouldn’t you want this hardworking taxpayers’ money, someone overseeing it? We’ve got to eliminate the wasteful spending in Washington.”
The Hill reports that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Tommy Garcia skewered Mr McCarthy and other Republicans who have criticised US spending to assist Ukraine in its national defense in a statement.
“A Republican party plagued with spineless Putin Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kevin McCarthy, who would rather side with Russia over freedom, has no business leading,” he said.
Though most Republican lawmakers support Ukraine, there is a sizable contingent of critics within the party — often MAGA-focused candidates — that have rejected US measures to back assistance. In May, 57 Republicans in the House voted against a $40bn supplemental aid package for Ukraine.
Mr McCarthy said on CNBC that he advocated for selling Javelin missiles to Ukraine after a trip in 2015, a year after Russia annexed Crimea, but claimed then-Vice President Joe Biden said that Germany would not be happy with that course of action.
The Republican leader then said he recommended training Ukrainians on the missiles and keeping the weapons in Poland, but said that suggestion was also ignored.
“I believe we could do things smarter, we could be ahead. We could make sure that Russia wouldn’t see weakness going forward and then cost us more money, more lives, more damage. That is what I’m talking about when you talk about no blank check. I believe in accountability,” Mr McCarthy said.
