Putin ‘fanboy’ Trump is holding up aid to Ukraine, Mass. Rep. Auchincloss says
The way U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss sees it, there’s one reason and one reason only that lawmakers on Capitol Hill haven’t passed a multi-billion dollar aid bill for Ukraine and Israel.
That’s because U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is “afraid of Donald Trump,” the Democrat from Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District Democrat said Wednesday, as Ukraine’s efforts to repel an unprovoked Russian invasion dragged into its third year, and as the Eastern European nation runs out of ammunition to keep that resistance going.
“There are votes to support Ukraine. It is there. It is bipartisan,” Auchincloss told WBUR’s “Radio Boston” program on Wednesday morning. “It is not as bipartisan as it should be because the [House Republicans’] MAGA flank is vociferous. Donald Trump has some weird fanboy crush on [Russian President] Vladimir Putin that is just devastating for American policy.”
Johnson and other congressional leaders huddled with President Joe Biden on Tuesday, where they discussed a previously approved U.S. Senate bill that would channel $95 billion in U.S. assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and “civilians in conflict zones,” Roll Call reported.
ohnson has blocked action on the bill in the majority-Republican House, over disagreements on border security measures. Trump, the former president and likely GOP White House nominee, also has pressured Republicans to oppose it, the New York Times reported.
Speaking to WBUR on Wednesday, Auchincloss, a former Marine who is of Ukrainian descent, described Trump as one of the “four horsemen” of the “MAGA opposition” to the aid proposal.
The others are Republican U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, and Jim Jordan, of Ohio, and influential conservative television host Tucker Carlson, Auchincloss said.
“They have tremendous influence over Mike Johnson and the narrow [Republican] margins he controls in the House,” Auchincloss said.
“He’s afraid of motion to vacate,” Auchincloss added, referring to Johnson and the procedural mechanism that a single House lawmaker can employ to call for a sitting speaker’s ouster.
Such fears don’t matter, since “he’s on the way out,” Auchincloss continued, predicting a Democratic takeover of the House after this fall’s general election. Should that happen, “the [Republican] conference will devour him.”
“What I would say to him is, ‘Think about your legacy. Do you want to be remembered as the guy who handed Ukraine back to Russia, or do you want to be remembered as the guy who met the moment?’” Auchincloss told the station.
By: John L. Micek
Source: MassLive