Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) slammed the new GOP Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance for the approbation being voiced about Vance by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Sen. Vance (R-OH) has been stalwart in his opposition to U.S. dollars supporting Ukraine’s war against Vladimir Putin‘s Russia.
Vance’s position, coupled with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump‘s seemingly respectful relationship with Putin, are fueling the concern of NATO nations who fear a weakening of the longstanding Western alliance during a second Trump term. Lavrov’s approval of Vance only sounds more alarms, as Ukraine supporters see it.
“[Vance] is in favor of peace, he’s in favor of ending the assistance that’s being provided,” Lavrov said, equating any future peace with the end of American assistance to Ukraine. “And we can only welcome that because that’s what we need – to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons, and then the war will end.”
Russian Foreign Minister endoses JD Vance. Need I say more? https://t.co/qbrRyxxr3b
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) July 18, 2024
Amplifying Lavrov’s fulsome approval of Trump’s VP pick, McGovern asks his constituents: “need I say more?”
McGovern’s rhetorical question is a particularly strong example of a presumption by Democrats that they have said enough to make their point. It is a presumption that communications experts have repeatedly criticized the Democrats for.
Vance is on the record as saying: “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.” The Senator also asserted that Russian territorial gains — annexing parts of Ukraine — are an inevitable part of the new geopolitical landscape, calling a return to pre-invasion borders “fantastical.”
In his February statement in Munich, Vance appeared to group Russia with the “bad guys” — saying on the subject of Russia-Ukraine that there are “a lot of bad guys all over the world.”
But this characterization was followed by his assertion that he is “much more interested in some of the problems in East Asia” than in those of Europe. Note: Vance has indicated that weaponry supplied to Ukraine is weaponry not given to Taiwan, where autonomy is under threat from China.