Mitch McConnell: ‘America First’ Is Foreign Policy ‘Nonsense’
by Sean Moran
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on Friday that the foreign policy vision that former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Trump’s running mate, espouse is “nonsense.”
McConnell has long tried to eliminate the “isolationist” wing’s increasing influence over the Republican Party.
Although he did not directly reference Trump or Vance, McConnell called the “America First” foreign policy doctrine “nonsense.”
“I mean, even the slogans are what they were in the 30s — ‘America First,’” McConnell added.
Despite McConnell’s strong support for Ukraine’s protracted war, he admitted in an interview in July that he is not sure what a Ukrainian victory against Russia looks like — after spending more than $175 billion in aid to Ukraine.
“[The Ukrainians] know they need to have some signs of success here, which will reassure the democratic countries that they can win,” McConnell said.
He asked rhetorically, “The conflict over the summer and how it is perceived to turn out is extremely important in answering the question inevitably coming up in democracies — can they win?”
Attendees at the Republican National Convention in July booed McConnell, even though he served as the Kentucky delegate for the convention.
A Pew Research poll found that 49 percent of Americans say that the country does not have a responsibility to help Ukraine with its protracted conflict with Russia, while 48 percent say it does.