@cspanofficial: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday blamed former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for eroding Republican support for Ukraine. “The demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion, ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,” said Sen. McConnell, an ardent supporter of Ukraine. “He had an enormous audience, which convinced a lot of rank-and-file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake,” he said referring to efforts to provide more U.S. assistance to Ukraine. The Republican leader’s comments came after the Senate voted 80–19 to advance the House-passed foreign aid package, which includes $60.8 billion in support for Ukraine. Final passage of the bill is expected no later than Wednesday evening but could come as soon as Tuesday night. The White House had been urging Congress since last year to pass a foreign aid package, warning that Ukraine wouldn’t be able to withstand the Russian onslaught without additional U.S. security assistance. The Republican Party, which has traditionally been more hawkish on foreign policy, has grown increasingly isolationist in recent years, subscribing to former President Trump’s “America First” agenda, which fueled the monthslong delay on the aid package. Mr. Carlson has championed that view and used his platform to criticize Ukraine and praise Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met with in Moscow in February for a widely panned interview. #mitchmcconnell #tuckercarlson #ukrainewar #cspan

C-SPAN

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Tuesday 23 April 2024 20:33:29 GMT