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I don’t know, all. I’m beginning to think MAGA GOPers aren’t the pacifists they’ve proclaimed themselves to be ever since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Their response to the explosion of conflict in the Middle East over the weekend is adding to my theory.
In February, several Republicans signed on to a bill, introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., that was aimed at ending U.S. military and financial aid to Ukraine. The “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” was part of a broader push among Russophilic Republicans to slow or stop such defense aid in the face of Moscow’s deadly invasion.
“America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war,” Gaetz said in a statement at the time. “We must suspend all foreign aid for the War in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately.”
To which I say, in my exaggerated hippie voice: “Yeah, totally, man. Peace, love, and save the whales.”
Of course, the GOP’s foreign aid charade has just been exposed — by Republicans’ reactions to the eruption of war in the Middle East.
“The reason we have this multibillion-dollar commitment each and every year to Israel is because we want Israel to have a qualitative military edge over everyone” in the region, Gaetz said Sunday on “Meet the Press.”
Keep in mind here that Gaetz and other Republicans have threatened to shut down the federal government over aid to Ukraine. In other words: MAGA GOPers are willing to grind the government to a halt to stop Ukraine aid, but say aid to Israel should continue no matter what.
Among other prominent Republicans, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia pushed a conspiracy theory involving Ukraine in her call for the U.S. to provide aid to Israel.
Appearing on Fox News on Sunday, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio — who has repeatedly tried to end aid to Ukraine — preached about the need for the U.S. to help Israel:
We need to give Israel the time, the space, the resources so that they can win and win decisively and send a message to these evil people who did this to our great friend and great ally, the state of Israel.
It’s hard not to see the issue as indicative of GOP love for Russia, as well as a matter of Republicans choosing whom they want to protect from military might.
Aiding Ukraine means arming a fight against Russia, which MAGA GOPers evidently don’t want. But aiding Israel, in this case, means arming a fight against Hamas — or, more plainly — arming a fight against Palestinians, a largely Muslim group of people who have faced derision from conservative leadership in the U.S.
Even with Israel being a U.S. ally, there is reason to be wary of how we help its government, which has been sliding toward autocracy under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership. But MAGA Republicans seem gung-ho on providing Israel’s government everything it needs to quash its enemies.
As for the Ukrainians — that’s another story entirely.