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United States
Opinion
Robert Delaney
Robert Delaney

On Balance | Why is Mitch McConnell breaking with Republicans and backing US aid for Ukraine?

  • Senate Minority leader’s call for more support for Ukraine shows the split between ascendant right-wing Republicans and the party’s old guard
  • Some in the party’s far right have questioned US support for Ukraine and expressed cultural views in line with those of Vladimir Putin

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US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (centre), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attend an event on Capitol Hill in Washington on September 29. Photo: TNS
Robert Delaney

The most consequential battle in the fight to free Ukraine from Russian terror is now under way in Washington, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell emerging as a key combatant in the Western world’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This underscores the rift between the Republican Party’s increasingly ascendant right-wing – full of election deniers, Christian nationalists and others willing to brand their opponents as demonic paedophiles – and the unsettlingly quiet group of those who reject Putin’s world view.
McConnell put more distance between himself and his party’s right flank by calling on US President Joe Biden’s administration to expedite military aid to Ukraine and pledging that Senate Republicans want to ensure “timely delivery of needed weapons”.
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McConnell’s remarks came after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gave an interview to Punchbowl News. He questioned the wisdom of providing a “blank check” to Ukraine while immigrants are reportedly crossing the US border with Mexico at a record pace and more economists are predicting an economic recession.

McCarthy’s argument doesn’t stand up. The border problem is largely a result of political gridlock that has blocked badly needed immigration reform. It has been with us for decades, outlasting multiple US conflicts in the Middle East that were far less threatening to US interests than Putin’s onslaught.

02:54

Why Russia is using ‘kamikaze drones’ in Ukraine

Why Russia is using ‘kamikaze drones’ in Ukraine

Recessions come and go. The United States was barely out of the decade-long Great Depression when it was drawn into a world war that ultimately made it the world’s most powerful country.

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