GOP presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence took aim Sunday at President Biden for doing a “terrible job” of explaining U.S. interests in Ukraine.
Pence told host Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” that he agreed with Rep. Mark Alford’s (R-Mo) opinion piece published in The Hill that called on Biden to be more transparent on why the U.S. is interested in sending more resources to Ukraine. This comes as Republicans in Congress have questioned whether the country should be sending more aid to Ukraine.
“Well, I want to agree with Congressman Alford that I think President Joe Biden has done a terrible job explaining what our natural interest is in Ukraine,” Pence said. “There’s a lot of these gauzy speeches he’s given about defending democracy.”
“Look, I believe we need to continue to provide the Ukrainian military the resources they need to repel the Russian invasion, because I have no doubt, Shannon, that if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine, he’s going to cross a border of a NATO country where we will be required under Article 5 to send our troops,” he added.
Pence also accused the Biden administration of giving aid to Ukraine in “dribs and drabs.”
“They promised tanks back in January, they’re still not there,” he said. “You know, I really do believe that what we need is to provide the resources, the equipment, the missiles, the aircraft that Ukraine needs to repel that Russian invasion in a much more rapid pace than the Biden administration has done. And I’m going to continue to champion that.”
“Look, we’re the leader of the free world. And if America is not leading the free world, it’s not being led. And we’re — today Joe Biden has left a vacuum on the world stage that China and Russia are working every day to fill,” he continued.
The debate over whether to continue sending funds to Ukraine has divided members of the Republican Party. GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy raised his hand at the Republican debate last month when moderator Bret Baier asked who would oppose more funding to Ukraine.
Pro-Trump lawmakers in the House, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) have been vocal about opposing more aid to Ukraine. Senate Republicans are more likely to support funding for Ukraine, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicating that additional aid should be a major U.S. security interest.