Washington Post columnist Max Boot signed up with CNN to discuss a current column in which he condemned “MAGA Republicans” for opposing billions of dollars in moneying to Ukraine while calling for those funds to be rerouted to domestic causes.
When asked why some Congressional Republicans have long called for a pause in funding for the war effort, Boot blamed “isolationist” beliefs popular with the GOP base, as well as an “affinity for Putin” driven by former President Donald Trump.
“I think there’s a lot of isolationism among Republicans. I think there’s likewise some affinity for Putin. I think a great deal of this is being driven by Donald Trump,” Boot stated. “There are a lot of Republicans who understand much better, including Mitch McConnell, who said, this is not the time to go shaky. And it’s pretty obvious that there are bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress that continue moneying aid to Ukraine.”
The Washington Post columnist was then inquired about growing opposition to unlimited Ukraine financing, including one recent survey that discovered more than 60 percent of Americans want Congress to pause the cash flow. CNN’s own August survey discovered that 55 percent of respondents wanted a time out, representing a remarkable shift from February 2022, when 68 percent of those surveyed desired funding to increase.
“They are resonating but i think they’re just extremely bad argument,” Boot specified when presented with counter arguments to Ukraine funding. “And i believe the resonating because they play into the isolationism of a lot of the Republican base, however they’re horrible arguments because the truth is that U.S. aid to Ukraine has actually been among the most successful, if not the most effective, foreign policy initiatives the United States has undertaken because the end of the Cold War.”
He went on to declare that the war poses no risk of escalation to a potential world war or nuclear conflict, rather arguing that the U.S. is damaging Russia without losing any American lives. “For a reasonably small financial investment, yes, we are investing tens of billions of dollars on Ukraine, however all that amounts to approximately one-half of one percent of federal spending. So for a very little financial investment, an extremely tiny portion of defense costs in particular, we are helping the free individuals of Ukraine to withstand aggression, this evil aggressor that has actually attacked their nation, and while doing so we’re assisting them to ravage the Russian war maker,” Boot said.
“They are inflicting the sort of losses that Russia has actually not seen because The second world war, and that is degrading drastically one of the most anti-American, one of the most threatening countries in the world that we ourselves face. So, the Ukrainians are battling our fight for us, and we do not need to risk a single American soldier. It’s a significant investment and it would be the height of recklessness to cut soldier. It’s a significant financial investment and it would be the height of folly to cut them off.”
