Rand Paul Blasts "Corrupt" Zelensky "Begging For More Money"
(Steve Watson) Senator Rand Paul doubled down on his staunch opposition to further funding for the war in Ukraine Thursday, blasting the visiting President Zelensky as a leader of a corrupt regime “begging for more money.”
“It’s not even just going to armaments. You realize we’re funding the pension of their government workers and we complain about bloated government here. They’ve got bloated government and they’ve got corruption. And the American taxpayer, people are struggling in our country, are asked to fund it. I think it’s wrong. And I think most of the American people, frankly, are with me,” Paul said during a Fox Business interview.
Paul also noted that Zelensky has cancelled Democracy in the country.
“They’ve cancelled the elections. What kind of democracy has no election?” he noted, adding “next year, Zelensky said he’s not going to have an election because it would be inconvenient during the war and would be expensive.”
He continued, “if you don’t have elections, who in the world will be supporting a country that’s not a democracy? They’ve banned the political parties, they’ve invaded churches, they’ve arrested priests. So, no, it isn’t a democracy. It’s a corrupt regime.”
“The Russians are worse,” Paul noted, adding “But at the same time, we don’t always have to pick some side to be on. But the ultimate reason I’m against this is we don’t have the money. And when we borrow more money, it leads to more inflation, leads to more likelihood of recession in our country. And so we just can’t keep doing it.”
“We are about $1.5 trillion dollars in debt for this year. Over the last three months we’ve accumulated almost a trillion dollars in three months. The total is $33 trillion, so we don’t have like an extra rainy day fund or a surplus we can send them,” Paul further urged.
The Senator added, “We have to borrow the money from China to send to Ukraine, so no matter what your sympathies are in the war, and I am sympathetic to Ukraine fighting off the Russian aggressors, but at the same time I think it’s irresponsible to think about their country before I think about my country.”
Watch:
Earlier this week in the Senate, Paul said that he will hold up any spending bill to fund the government beyond September 30 to avert a shutdown if it includes aid to Ukraine, asking “When will the aid requests end? When will the war end? Can someone explain what victory looks like?”
Several Biden officials provided answers to Paul’s questions Thursday, basically saying the funding will go on “as long as it takes.”
"One of the points that @JDVance1 raises is that it's not clear what the exit strategy is — so can you speak to that?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 21, 2023
JOHN KIRBY: "We don't have American troops in Ukraine"
"We are providing them military aid and obviously financial aid..."
KIRBY: "As long as it takes" pic.twitter.com/MQ0fJHTgHf
"What are you telling congressional leaders about how much more aid is needed [for Ukraine]?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 21, 2023
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan: "War is inherently unpredictable, of course, so I can't look you in the eye ... and predict exactly what’s going to happen" pic.twitter.com/XI9RISY7T9
Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan says he's "not gonna stand here and give a precise figure" on exactly how much taxpayer funding has been spent on aid to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/1TNWSmogIb
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 21, 2023
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on U.S. funding for Ukraine: "There's not a single dollar dollar amount that is necessary for all time. We need funding to keep going" pic.twitter.com/zTKumrtY9i
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 21, 2023
REPORTER: "President Zelenskyy, are you confident that Congress is gonna support your efforts to get this supplemental aid? Did you get any assurances?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 21, 2023
BIDEN: "There's no alternative" pic.twitter.com/8oy3pte600
