Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stumbled into the partisan fray weeks ahead of the U.S. presidential election, with Republicans ramping up attacks over his trip to Pennsylvania.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called for Zelensky to fire his ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, for organizing the visit with Democrats to a Keystone State weapons factory, while Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, opened a formal investigation into the tour.
Johnson refused to meet Zelensky during the Ukrainian leader’s visit this week. Former President Trump said he will meet with Zelensky on Friday.
Zelensky came under criticism from Republicans for calling Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), “too radical” in a New Yorker article, because the senator would give up Ukrainian territory to Russia and stop supporting Ukraine in the war. Zelensky also cast doubt on Trump’s plan to end the war before he takes office.
Zelensky has yet to respond to the criticism, which is unlikely to help his efforts this week to secure support for his country in the war with Ukraine.
“Who the hell is Zelensky to be trying to interfere in our election? the arrogance of this guy,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday in his “Verdict” podcast. “And the guy, I’ve got to say, is an absolute moron for coming to the U.S. six weeks before the election and attacking Trump and Vance.
“This is just dumb on his part, because if Trump wins, he’s got a huge problem that just got bigger,” Cruz added. “And if Trump loses, you know, good luck trying to get Republicans to listen to what he has to say if he just behaves like a Democrat campaign activist.”
A number of Republicans, particularly in the Senate, have supported Ukraine in its war with Russia and signaled they would do so going forward, regardless of the political fight.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters Thursday that “what happened in Pennsylvania was a mistake,” but made it clear he would continue to support Ukraine.
Graham was among the lawmakers who met with Zelensky on Thursday as he visited Capitol Hill. At a meeting with about 20 senators, the issues of Zelensky’s Vance comments or Pennsylvania visit did not come up, according to several senators.