Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that military aid to Ukraine was not charity, adding that it created jobs in the United States.
Host Kristen Welker said, “I want to ask you about your legacy. You said just this week that you often feel like the only Reagan Republican left. As you prepare to step down from your leadership position this year, what are your greatest concerns about the future of the Republican Party?”
McConnell said, “I tell you, I feel better about it after we had our vote. I don’t know what I said then, it may have been before the vote. I do think peace through strength which is the Reagan formula, not the Taft isolationism back in the ’40s, is recovering,. I think in this episode, more of my members really focused on facts, and it’s hard to argue against the supplemental.”
He added, “It’s in our interest. this is not charity to Ukraine. It’s in our interest. I think we’ve sort of refocused on the importance of playing the kind of role that we need to play in the world. It’s in our interest. None of this is charity and the whole democratic world is in favor of what we did this week. That should get the attention of our members, plus all of the jobs that are being created in their states with the money that we’re spending retooling our industrial base for the big challenges ahead against China and against Russia and against Iran.”
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