U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is in Kyiv this week meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky as Ukraine works to secure more U.S. congressional support for its defense against a Russian invasion that began more than two years ago.
In a bright spot of the visit, Graham recounted how in 2022 pundits warned that Kyiv would fall in “ten days.” Instead, Graham relished being able to say to Zelensky, using the first person plural: “we’re still here.”
After voting last month to block aid for Ukraine, Lindsey Graham met President Zelenaky in Kyiv today.
Shameless.pic.twitter.com/u8MAcT5VDY
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) March 18, 2024
Yet the fraught subtext of the visit was palpable: Here for how much longer? Graham, a longtime Russia hawk who in February voted against a Senate foreign aid bill that would have provided $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine, reportedly “floated” an idea provided by former President Donald Trump of turning Ukraine aid into a loan.
Graham said in a statement: “During my meeting with President Zelensky, I informed him that given the crisis at the United States’ southern border and our overwhelming debt, President Trump’s idea of turning aid from the United States into a no-interest, waivable loan is the most likely path forward. This is not only true for aid for Ukraine, but for other countries across the board.”
Republicans refuse to deal with the border only to then use that as an excuse to not help our ally fight against our shared enemy.
Trump also drove up US debt by 40% in a single term by giving tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Now the debt is a “reason” we can’t properly…
— Jared Ryan Sears (@JaredRyanSears) March 18, 2024
The loan plan Graham credits Trump with “is under development by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul with the Senate’s aid package stuck in the House,” according to CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju.
U.S. Navy veteran and political pundit Jared Ryan Sears responded to Graham’s delivering the loan idea and his linkage of Ukraine security with American border security — a link already overtly addressed in the bipartisan Senate immigration bill negotiated by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and rejected by Graham.
[NOTE: Graham told his Republican colleagues “this is a historic moment to reform the border” and that they would not “get a better deal,” before voting against it anyway.]
Sears, echoing Republicans like Lankford and Democrats, wrote about Graham’s Zelensky pitch, knocking the debt and the border as largely GOP-owned excuses: “Republicans refuse to deal with the border only to then use that as an excuse to not help our ally fight against our shared enemy.
“Trump also drove up US debt by 40% in a single term by giving tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. Now the debt is a ‘reason’ we can’t properly and help Ukraine in a timely manner.
“Lindsey Graham should think about what the increased cost would be on not helping Ukraine and then having Russia continue on to attack a NATO ally which would drag America directly into war.”