Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) celebrated a Senate test vote to advance a House-passed $95.3 billion foreign aid bill, and took aim at conservative media personality Tucker Carlson for influencing what he called the “demonization of Ukraine.”
“I think the demonization of Ukraine began with Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said, answering questions from reporters on Tuesday. “He had an enormous audience, which convinced a bunch of rank-and-file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake.”
The Kentucky Republican took a victory lap after the Senate advanced a House-passed foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan by an 80-19 vote, putting the bill the closest to passage after being stalled for months. Several Senate Republicans who came out against a foreign aid bill in the Senate earlier this year voted to advance the bill Tuesday. The House passed the bill over the weekend with mixed support from both Democrats and Republicans.
McConnell has been one of the most outspoken proponents of aid to Ukraine, despite a segment of the GOP who have expressed skepticism about the U.S.’s financial support.
“I think we have turned a corner on the isolationist movement. I’d noticed how uncomfortable proponents of that are, when you call it isolationist. So, I think we’ve made some progress and I think it’s going to have to continue because we have big problems,” McConnell said.
Mitch McConnell is an absolute idiot.
He is actually trying to blame Tucker Carlson for conservatives not wanting to support the never-ending money laundering campaign in Ukraine.
A spineless, bought-and-sold anti-American warmonger and club member. pic.twitter.com/5ValVWTDFH
— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) April 23, 2024
Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Lankford (R-OK), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Tim Scott (R-SC), and Peter Welch (D-VT) flipped their votes and voted to advance the foreign aid bill Tuesday.
“We went from 22 votes to almost 30. We will see what happens on the final passage,” McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also praised the Senate’s move to advance the bill.
“Today, the Senate sends a unified message to the entire world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need,” Schumer said after the procedural vote.
While McConnell praised the Senate for taking a step forward, he also acknowledged the damage caused by the inaction from Congress after months of delay.
“There’s no question that the delay was harmful,” McConnell said. “The [Biden] administration is partially responsible for being too skittish, and every one of those decision points, I thought the administration could have done it sooner.”
“Acting quicker, partially because of the administration, partially because of Congress not approving this bill, that has not been helpful,” McConnell added.
The Senate had previously passed its own version of the foreign aid bill back in February, but the bill did not move forward in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) then tried a different approach by separating the foreign aid into different bills. The legislation was then bundled into one package before transitioning to the Senate.
WATCH: Republican Senator Mitch McConnell accuses Donald Trump of *NOT* wanting to secure the southern border.
YOUR THOUGHTS? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/RfCtATaLrW
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) April 23, 2024
