Liberal elites’ condescension isn’t helping Ukraine

After Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown on Sept. 30, President Joe Biden declared that he is “sick and tired of the brinksmanship” afflicting Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, when it comes to aid for Ukraine, his administration has been stoking the partisan flames.

Ever since Russia’s invasion began, liberals have been attempting to use it as a wedge issue to divide Republicans and moderate voters. They want to portray “extreme MAGA” Republicans as hostile to democracy and soft on national security. This rhetoric is divisive and could alienate precisely the people Ukraine’s supporters need to win over.

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Sadly, the administration’s defenders in the liberal media are simply repeating its talking points. To take just one example, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman claims that Republicans oppose aid to Ukraine because they are authoritarians. “Whatever Republican hard-liners may say, they want Putin to win,” he argues. “They view the Putin regime’s cruelty and repression as admirable features that America should emulate.”

The liberal narrative, however, necessarily elides Biden’s own dismal record on human rights. In its attempts to downplay the disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, for instance, his administration is normalizing relations with the Taliban. Biden officials have also recently told United States Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel to cool down his critiques of the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses and geopolitical aggression. Far from acting on the world stage like the champions of democracy they claim to be, Biden officials have taken steps to placate the U.S.’s authoritarian adversaries.

Read more at the Washington Examiner.