Former Vice President Mike Pence said on Monday that the United States did not need to choose between fixing problems on the home front and supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Pence defended his support for the European country on Monday, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that he believes the U.S. can take care of its own problems at home while supplying aid to Ukraine.
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“I just don’t think we have to choose between solving problems here at home, which is that, you know, an economy that’s failing, the border crisis, the crisis in energy, the crime wave in our cities,” Pence said. “I don’t think we have to choose between solving problems here at home and being the leader of the free world. And anybody who says we can’t has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth.”
Pence’s comments come after an exchange with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson went viral earlier this month. During the exchange, Carlson asked where Pence’s concern for the U.S. was.
“I know you’re running for president. You are distressed that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks?” Carlson asked in Iowa. “Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past few years. Yet, your concern is the Ukrainians. … I think it’s a fair question to ask, where’s the concern for the United States?”
Pence responded that he was in fact concerned about the U.S., which he felt was in “a lot of trouble.” The war in Ukraine has been dividing GOP presidential candidates, with former South Carolina Gov. and former U.N Ambassador Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) supporting sending military aid to Ukraine but not U.S. troops.
Former President Donald Trump claimed he would not let Ukraine join NATO, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said he does not support sending help to Ukraine at all.
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“There are too many voices in our party that are sounding the retreat, that are willing to let Putin keep the land grab that he’s made in eastern Ukraine, willing to make promises,” Pence told Hewitt. “In my opinion, the only thing Putin will understand is strength, and providing those courageous fighters in Ukraine what they need to repel the Russian invasion is the fastest way to security and preventing the day that American forces are actually required to go into battle in Europe again.”
Pence is the only Republican presidential candidate to visit Ukraine during the war. The former vice president has visited twice — the first visit occurred a couple of months after the invasion started, and the second visit occurred last month.
