MAGA Aims at Ukraine
Terry H. Schwadron
Oct. 20, 2022
Should Republicans win a House majority, it seems increasingly likely that we’re going to face a new front in the war in Ukraine.
Support for defense of Ukraine has not emerged as a prime issue in the election as compared with inflation, abortion or preservation of U.S. democracy. But it is becoming clear that for the MAGA Republican bloc that will prove most influential in a Republican-majority House, the drumbeat for American isolationism and disdain for international involvement means a fight ahead on continuing supply of weapons and aid for Ukraine.
From Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s pro-Russia commentary to the vocal remarks of a surprising number of congressional candidates, MAGA Republicans are making clear that American commitment to Ukraine’s defense is on the line — even over objections to this line of thinking from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.)
This week, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chair of the right-wing Freedom Caucus, floated to colleagues the idea of laying the groundwork for an investigation into the Biden administration’s approach to Russia-Ukraine peace talks, Axios reported. The argument focuses on the Western desire for an outright Ukrainian win could provoke a cornered Russian leader Vladimir Putin to take drastic action, including a nuclear strike.
Ukrainians — and Biden — counter that Russia can end the war at any time by withdrawing its forces, that only the Ukrainians have the right to determine the fate of their country, and that it is of prime concern to the NATO alliance and international rule to counter a Russian invasion of a sovereign country.
It all seems a far cry from what we have taken as American commitment to herald the playing of the Ukrainian national anthem, to give standing ovations to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and to call on most of the United Nations’ General Assembly to call out the Russians for aggression and war crimes.
All this as the news was that Russia declaring martial law in the four annexed territories, allowing authorities to impose curfews, seize property, forcibly resettle residents to another region, imprison undocumented immigrants, establish checkpoints and detain people for up to 30 days, possibly conscripting locals to fight their fellow countrymen.
MAGA Foreign Policy
Most of what we hear from the MAGA crowd is about domestic issues, starting with the number one issue of moving heaven and earth to restore Donald Trump to the White House by any means possible, election laws, court decisions and Constitutional issues notwithstanding.
But there is this stubborn insistence there too about the state of the world, and the need to keep America the strongest of separate nations, as if there is no global economy, no climate crisis, no international oil market at play or pandemics that cross national boundaries.
In practical terms that we saw Trump use, the America First principles mean closing U.S. immigration borders and setting caps on legal immigration, extending tariffs on international goods, and a huge build-up of American weaponry with the idea of forestalling any challenge to U.S. military might. It also meant that Trump sought to undercut NATO, even threatening to withdraw, to cancel participation in climate and other international agreements and to back away from American participation in conflicts.
It was America First thinking that fueled Trump’s insistence on withdrawing from Afghanistan and other locations, on pursuing friendship with North Korea, on ending the Iranian agreement on nuclear weapons development, on fawning over dictatorships in Russia and Eastern Europe and on imposing harsh immigration policies. The tariffs still in place against Chinese goods have contributed to higher U.S. prices that MAGA now denounces as Bidenomics.
And it was Trump’s foreign policy that sought a deal to base support for Ukraine for agreement to gather dirt on political opponent Joe Biden.
In brief, America First is a policy built on perceived strength through weapons rather than diplomacy.
Fissures in Support for Ukraine
That Joe Biden and Democrats disagree with this fundamental principle is without doubt. The entirety of the Biden approach to global issues is coalition-building and the search for principles for stability.
Senate Republicans regularly attack Biden on a variety of issues, including the management of the Southern border, but generally coalesce around the defense of Ukraine and the build-out of NATO to add Sweden and Finland most recently.
indeed, the fights in Washington only seem to be about how much faster Biden should be in providing air defenses to the Ukrainians.
But clearly, Republican criticism of Biden’s international approach to the conflict has splintered as the conflict has dragged on. While Republican senators have urged Biden to speed up and diversify weapon sales to Ukraine, MAGA-aligned Republicans have demanded Kyiv enter negotiations and avert any risk of nuclear escalation.
For months, Fox’s Tucker Carlson has been a cheerleader for pro-Russian efforts in Ukraine, with the commentator outspoken about this being a problem that should not involve Americans. Carlson has gone out of his way to promote dictatorships over democracy and picked up on Trump’s apparent love affair with Putin and other dictators as admirable leaders. Still, Carlson has also been among the most vocal at attacking Biden for failing to sufficiently challenge the Chinese, which seems a bit at odds with isolation, but consistent with American bullyism.
The entire disinclination to recognize covid as a worldwide problem under the Trump administration was a good example of the blinders of isolationism.
Axios found texts from last month from Perry to fellow Republicans members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to notify the Biden administration to preserve its records about Ukraine, a first step toward an investigation. “Have we requested any Administration conversations with Zelensky this spring that included the proposition of an end to Russian occupation in exchange for Ukraine not joining NATO?” he wrote. Perry added that he is “completely opposed to Russian actions regarding Ukraine,” but is “not in favor of war with Russia.
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy says aid to Ukraine will get a much closer look from a Republican majority.
With substantial backing from the West, Ukrainians have made clear that there will be no negotiations with Russia while Russian soldiers continue to occupy the country.
But for us, we should recognize now that a MAGA-influenced House is going to revisit everything about our commitment to Ukraine.
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