Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) made the rounds on the Sunday morning news programs, appearing in interviews on CBS and Fox News. On both networks, McConnell supported President Joe Biden’s calls to bundle Ukraine and Israel aid.
Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan asked McConnell whether it was possible to pass additional aid to Ukraine without it being tied to Israel, givn that some in the GOP ranks are reluctant to approve additional aid to Ukraine.
“I just think that’s a mistake. I mean, I know there are some Republicans in the Senate, and maybe more in the House, saying Ukraine is somehow different. I view it as all interconnected,” McConnell said of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which is in its 20th month, as well as the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
McConnell then pushed back on those Republicans who are hesitant to approve more aid for Ukraine, stating that the aid is actually being spent more in the U.S. by ramping up production for the weapons.
“No Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We’re rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that. I think it’s wonderful that they’re defending themselves — and also the notion that the Europeans are not doing enough,” he said.
The New Axis of Evil: Russia, China, Iran
McConnell also told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream that while he disagrees with Biden on nearly every domestic issue, he is on the same page with the administration when it comes to foreign policy regarding China, Russia, and Iran.
The highest-ranking GOP senator even borrowed a term from the early days of the Global War on Terror to describe the burgeoning alliance between Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran.
“You have to respond to conditions that actually exist that are a threat to the United States. The Iranians are a threat to us as well. And so, this is an emergency. It’s an emergency that we step up and deal with this axis of evil – China, Russia, Iran – because it’s an immediate threat to the United States,” McConnell said.
“We have big power competition from China, and Russia and we still have terrorism problems, as the Israelis have certainly experienced in a brutal way in the last week. So I think that requires a worldwide approach rather than trying to take parts of it out. It’s all connected,” McConnell said.
“The Chinese and the Russians said they’re now friends forever,” the senator added. “Iranian drones are being used in Ukraine and against the Israelis.”
McConnell further warned that the world “is more endangered today” than it has been at any other point in his lifetime.
Though he agreed with Biden on the need to support Ukraine and Israel, McConnell was critical of the president’s handling of foreign affairs. He blamed the current situation on the White House’s handling of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in late August 2021.
“The question is, is America going to lead?” McConnell posed to Bream. “I think the Biden administration sent the wrong signal and they had the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. I think that was like giving a green light to Putin to go into Ukraine. And we see that Iran, principal sponsor of terrorism, sending drones to the Russians and attacking – Hezbollah and in this particular situation, Hamas – attacking the Israelis with drones. So it’s all connected. You can’t separate out one part of it and say we’re only gonna deal with this. It’s all connected.”
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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