Vance might get Trump endorsement, but they aren’t same
I served in the Trump administration for nearly four years and was a loyal supporter of the former president.
Donald Trump has chosen to endorse J.D. Vance for U.S. Senate and is expected to arrive in the Columbus area today, April 23 to rally thousands of America Firsters in his support.
However, I believe Vance’s view on foreign policy is wrong for Ohio, the Republican Party and the United States.
While Russian forces were amassing along the border of Ukraine in February, Vance revealed his callousness during a political talk show, admitting, “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another.”
Vance has since expressed some regret for the comment, but a subsequent statement only revealed further disdain for the country.
Shortly after the Kremlin began its illegal invasion, he dishonored Ukraine’s soldiers by complaining that, “we spent $6 billion on a failed Ukrainian military,” asserting that “the only real solution to tyranny abroad is a strong America with protected borders, a prosperous middle class and healthy people,” and that “further engulfing ourselves in Eastern Europe harms and distracts from those goals.”
More recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Vance said, “I think it is a huge – a catastrophic – mistake to get more and involved in what’s going on in Russia and Ukraine, especially when we have our problems right here at home.”
These comments ignore some of Vance’s wouldbe constituency since a significant number of Ohioans are of Ukrainian descent.
Many of them fled the Soviet Union and are keen on the dangers of Russian aggression. His views are also a stark contrast to Ohio’s outgoing U.S. Senator Rob Portman, who has called for more “lethal aid” for Ukraine and that America should “stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine.”
Vance’s comments on Ukraine are inconsistent with the other significant Republican U.S. Senate leaders.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is co-chair the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus has supported Ukraine, and fought hard to keep America engaged with her Eastern European allies. Sen. Mike Lee has been proactively advocating for Ukrainian refugees and orphans and Sen. John Thune just last month published an Oped on his senate page titled, “The Free World Must Stand With Ukraine.”
Finally, a recent Quinnipiac poll says 82% of Americans believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is “war criminal,” suggesting that in contrast to Vance’s February comments, they do care what happens to Ukraine and its people.
Based on Vance’s own comments, his foreign policy views seem out of touch with Ohioans, Americans, his predecessor, leading Republican senators and even the man who is endorsing him.
On March 3, Trump called Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine a “holocaust” and last week referred to the Kremlin’s brutal actions as a “genocide.” These positions are all radically different from Vance’s.
Ohioans will have to decide between nominating an isolationist whose foreign policy views are inconsistent with leading Senate Republicans and the former president – or choose a mainstream conservative whose views are consistent with the party’s tradition of promoting freedom and liberty.
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is an attorney and investigative journalist who has reported on Russian affairs. He served as a senior adviser to the U.S. Agency for Global Media from 2017 to 2021.