American ambivalence towards Ukraine only emboldens Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress on Wednesday seems to have upset some in the Republican party. Four representatives refused to clap after his speech, and two of them – Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert – were seen seated throughout, captivated by their mobile phones instead.

Boebert, the representative for Colorado’s third district, later published her response to Zelensky’s address on Twitter. Although she said it is ‘clear’ that Ukrainians are suffering and that ‘the war is deadly and horrific’, Boebert wants an ‘audit’ of the $50 billion that Ukraine has previously received before committing to any more. Florida congressman Matt Gaetz went further: ‘haemorrhaging billions of taxpayer dollars for Ukraine while our country is in crisis is the definition of America Last’ – playing on Woodrow Wilson’s doctrine of ‘America First’, which Donald Trump went on to co-opt. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene earlier this week called Zelensky ‘the shadow president’ and Ukraine the ‘51st state’, while Thomas Massie dubbed him ‘the Ukrainian lobbyist’.