House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) drew heaps of scorn by criticizing the United States for not doing more to arm Ukrainian forces prior to Russia's invasion.
The California Republican complained that the U.S. was too slow to send arms to Ukraine to fight back against Russian aggression and called on the United States to help arm Taiwan against threats from China.
Just as the United States should have supplied weapons to Ukraine sooner, we should speed up the sale of weapons to Taiwan so they can safeguard their future against China.— Kevin McCarthy (@Kevin McCarthy) 1646666270
But other social media users reminded McCarthy he had effectively endorsed Donald Trump's extortion scheme against Ukraine by refusing to impeach him.
As The Washington Post explained: "Trump first approved the sale of $47 million worth of 210 Javelin missiles and 37 launchers to Ukraine in December 2017. Delivered in April the following year, they were not deployed to the front lines of the still-simmering separatist war. Under the terms of the sale, they were kept boxed in a military storage facility far from the front lines, where they were to serve symbolically as a 'strategic deterrent' to Russia."
"In the summer of 2019, Trump froze an additional $400 million in congressionally approved security assistance to Ukraine, an action that later became a centerpiece in his first impeachment," the newspaper noted.
Donald Trump illegally cut off defensive aid to Ukraine to blackmail President Zelenskyy and McCarthy defended it.https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1500853233388077063\u00a0\u2026— Rep. Don Beyer (@Rep. Don Beyer) 1646668631
Did you say that to Trump when he withheld the congressionally-authorized military assistance to Ukraine to coerce Zelenskyy to help Trump\u2019s re-election campaign?https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/1500853233388077063\u00a0\u2026— Daniel Goldman (@Daniel Goldman) 1646667912
When Trump said that Russia's annexation of Crimea was "so smart," Russia was listening. When Trump held up US military assistance to Ukraine, Russia was watching. When Pompeo said that Americans don't give a f* about Ukraine, Russia loved it. Here we are.https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1500853233388077063?s=20&t=O1VvL3aCcfcNPmgIjAS29w\u00a0\u2026— Julia Davis (@Julia Davis) 1646668776
You voted to allow the president to withhold weapons to extort Zelensky for a Biden smear. Sit down.— Helen Kennedy \ud83c\udf3b (@Helen Kennedy \ud83c\udf3b) 1646670354
McCarthy not only defended Trump illegally disarming Ukraine but said he was right to do so. Shamelessness is their superpower.https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1500853233388077063\u00a0\u2026— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1646668495
Remind us how you voted when Trump got impeached for withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine so that he could extort Zelenskyy for dirt on Biden.https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/1500853233388077063\u00a0\u2026— Brian Tyler Cohen (@Brian Tyler Cohen) 1646669187
Will you ask Taiwan to do you a favor, first?— Tom (@Tom) 1646671598
This is your regular reminder that when Donald Trump withheld military aid for Ukraine to extort President Zelenskyy, Kevin and 99% of Republicans in Congress turned their back on Ukraine and refused to remove Trump from office.— NLC (@NLC) 1646667049
