Republican senators went to great lengths on Wednesday to avoid bashing President Donald Trump and his criticism of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy but they didn’t hold back on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said earlier in the day, without providing evidence, that Zelenskyy was a “Dictator without Elections,” writing on his social media platform that the Ukrainian president “better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left.”
The day before he had falsely asserted that Ukraine had started the war as U.S. negotiators were sitting down with a Russian delegation — without representation from Ukraine — in talks to bring the 3 year old conflict to an end.
“I think what I’m in support of is a peaceful outcome and result in Ukraine,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said during a press conference Wednesday when asked about Trump’s comments. “And I think right now, the administration, the president and his team are working to achieve that … I think it’s in everybody’s best interest — Ukraine, Russia, Europe, the United States — if they can bring about a peaceful conclusion to the war. So that’s what this is about right now, and I think most of us want to support their efforts as they move in that direction and hopefully to a successful outcome.”
This was a fine line for Republican senators to walk, many disagreeing with what Trump said about Zelenskyy and who started the war in Ukraine, but stopping well short of criticizing Trump for saying it.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was a good example. Asked if he agrees with Trump that Zelenskyy is a dictator, Hawley responded, “I wouldn’t say that.” And he did say, “Obviously, Ukraine is going to have to be involved in any final negotiated settlement.”
But when pressed about why Trump would say that Zelenskyy started the conflict, Hawley responded, “Oh, well, listen — you have to ask the President. My guess is he’s expressing some frustration with Zelenskyy.”
And he did say that “Ukraine is going to have to be involved in any final negotiated settlement.”
Thune said, “The president speaks for himself” when asked specifically if he backed Trump’s claim that Zelensky is a dictator.
At the same time, however, these Republicans largely took a stand against the premise of the president’s remarks, making their own statements in opposition to Russia’s aggression in its war against Ukraine.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., offered a strong rebuke of Putin at the Capitol on Wednesday, telling reporters, “Vladimir Putin is a gangster. He’s a gangster with a black heart. He makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Teresa. He has Stalin’s taste for blood.”
Kennedy then suggested, though, that Trump’s words against Ukraine were to trigger talks of a peace deal to end the war.
“Now, having said that, we’re going to have a settlement. We’ve always known we’re going to have a settlement in Ukraine. Our job — and I think this is where the president is headed — is to get a settlement that lifts up Ukraine, lifts up Europe, lifts up America and the West, and diminishes Vladimir Putin,” Kennedy added.
A number of Republican senators avoided speaking about Trump’s comments completely.
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, who railed against Putin as a “war criminal” on Tuesday and said last week that Trump’s newly confirmed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” by claiming it was unrealistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-2014 territory, wouldn’t discuss the topic on Wednesday.
“I’m going to go read the statements. I’ve been in hearings. So I’ll go read the statement,” Wicker told ABC News when asked to respond to Trump’s claim that Zelenskyy is ‘a dictator.’ Later, Wicker avoided reporters’ questions by remaining on a phone call while en route to a GOP lunch in the Capitol.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he tries “not to read other people’s minds” when asked about Trump’s remarks on Ukraine, while Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said, “You’ll have to talk to President Trump about what it means,” when asked about his interpretation of the president’s statements.
While Hawley rejected Trump’s assertion about Zelenskyy being a dictator, he quickly pivoted to suggest that the president was raising a valid point about Ukraine not holding elections during wartime.
“I think that the point the president’s making though, about elections, is really an important one,” he said.
“We did not suspend elections during the Second World War. Britain did not suspend elections. I think the suspension of elections in Ukraine is a bad deal. It’s not good, it wasn’t good when they did it a year ago,” he said. “So, so let’s — he should hold elections. He is the elected leader of the country, but the president’s — our president is right, that they haven’t had elections in a long time, and they are basically in martial law. That’s not good. When you claim to be defending democracy, they need to practice it.” Hawley added.
Hawley also attempted to contextualize Trump’s statements when asked by ABC News whether he agreed with Trump’s assessment that Ukraine started the war.
“No — he’s also — the president said that he’s also blamed Russia as well, and has just, you know what, two weeks ago, was threatening to sanction Russia if they didn’t come to the negotiating table. Now, lo and behold, after he threatened to sanction them and post additional tariffs on them, they came to the negotiating table,” Hawley said.
Kennedy went the farthest in suggesting he could break with the White House over the Ukraine issue — specifically on who started the war. The Louisiana Republican then attempted to rehab his messaging.
“What I do believe is this, and to the extent the White House thinks otherwise, I disagree with them. They’re entitled to their opinion. I do not think that Ukraine started the war,” he said.
Kennedy clarified later: “There’s nothing to break with the White House over because we don’t have a settlement on Ukraine. Here’s where I disagree with the White House, to an extent that the White House said that Ukraine started the war. I disagree. I think Vladimir Putin [did.]”
The only GOP senator to seemingly offer both support for Trump and the premise of his statements on Ukraine and Russia was Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt.
“I think President Trump, on behalf of the American people, is trying to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. He talked about it a lot on the campaign trail. He said he wanted to bring peace. The war has gone on long enough, and I think he’s going to deliver on that,” Schmitt said. “So how do we get there? I trust President Trump. He’s a master negotiator, and I think he’s going to get to a lasting peace.”
“President Trump ran on the idea of bringing peace, and that’s what he’s going to deliver. And I think we should cheer that a million people have died and, thankfully, we have a president with the guts to stand up on the world stage and try to end this thing. That’s what I support,” Schmitt added.
Some of the most typically outspoken senators on the issue — like longtime Russia hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, and Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton — ran right past cameras when asked about Trump’s comments.
Cotton even took a wrong turn and fast-walked past the cameras twice, saying, “No comment.” Graham simply coughed and quickly walked away.
Sen. Chuck Grassley was strong in his rebuke of Putin when asked about Trump’s statement calling Zelenskyy a dictator, claiming that it was the Russian president who could claim that title.
“Putin’s a dictator. Putin is a murderer because he has his political opponents murdered. He is a kidnapper. He’s an international criminal. That speaks for what we’re dealing with when we deal with Russia,” Grassley said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, showered Zelenskyy with support when asked to respond to Trump’s comments.
“I have tremendous admiration for President Zelenskyy, who has courageously led his country during the most difficult time possible. We must remember that the instigator of this war was president Putin who launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine,” she said.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., called Zelenskyy a “key component” in Ukraine’s ability to fend off Russian aggression throughout the war.
“I met President Zelenskyy on a number of occasions, and I think he has been a key component in the fact that they’ve been able to withstand the Russian attacks,” Rounds said.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, when asked if she agrees with Trump in thinking that Zelensky is a dictator, responded: “I do not.”
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