Donald Trump's month-old second presidency has been a major departure from the Biden Administration on foreign policy. While former President Joe Biden aggressively supported Ukraine in the Ukraine-Russia War, Trump is now attacking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a "dictator." And unlike Trump, Biden was a blistering critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin during his four years in the White House.
Many Democrats are forcefully attacking Trump's Ukraine/Russia policy. And some GOP lawmakers are speaking out as well, although they are generally more reserved and less biting in their criticism.
Nonetheless, their frustration, as the Daily Beast's Matt Young notes in an article published on February 19, is coming through.
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Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) told CNN, "Make no mistake about it: That invasion was the responsibility of one human being on the face of this planet. It was Vladimir Putin in a calculation to go through Ukraine and not stop there, to go through Moldova, to go through the Balkans, to ultimately go to the Baltic states and send the signal to China that now is the time that they can take action in the South China Sea."
CNN's Lauren Fox quoted Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as saying, "I do not agree that President Zelensky is to blame in any way. This was a rogue invasion by Russia."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) disagreed with Trump as well, telling reporters, "I would certainly never (refer to) President Zelensky as a dictator."
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) didn't mention Trump by name in a February 19 post on X, formerly Twitter, but he clearly disagrees with Trump's position on the Ukraine-Russia War.
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Bacon tweeted, "Putin started this war. Putin committed war crimes. Putin is the dictator who murdered his opponents. The EU nations have contributed more to Ukraine. Zelensky polls over 50%. Ukraine wants to be part of the West, Putin hates the West. I don't accept George Orwell’s doublethink."
Although Tillis, Murkowski, Bacon and Collins aren't MAGA Republicans, the conservative lawmakers aren't full-fledged Never Trumpers either. But former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Illinois) is so anti-Trump that he passionately endorsed Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. And Kinzinger is as forceful as Democrats when condemning Trump on foreign policy.
In a February 19 tweet, Kinzinger wrote, "Trump is surrendering America. Trump is the opposite of strong. He is a tiny, weak, small, scared, trembling, sissy, husk of a man. There is nothing manly about his fat, sweaty, smelly, gross, makeup'ed self."
Zelensky, meanwhile, is saying that Trump is badly misinformed.
Bloomberg News quoted the Ukrainian president as saying, "We are seeing a lot of disinformation and it's coming from Russia. With all due respect to President Donald Trump as a leader.... he is living in this disinformation space."
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