President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon Ukraine during its darkest hour amid the Russian invasion and his pressure to force “peace talks” heavily favoring Russia represents a “complete betrayal” of U.S. allies and democratic values, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday.
Trump’s remarks, which blamed Ukraine for the war, sparked outrage—even among some within his own party. His statements came despite U.S. intelligence agencies concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to support Trump and harm Hillary Clinton.
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“Senator, I do want to talk to you about the firings at the Department of Veterans Affairs,” Tapper said to Duckworth, a disabled Iraq War veteran. “But I do also want to get your reaction to President Trump calling the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy a, quote, ‘dictator’ and suggesting over the last few days that this war was started by Ukraine.”
“I mean, he is parroting Vladimir Putin’s talking points, and it’s a complete betrayal of the Ukrainian people, of American leadership and our values,” Duckworth responded. “I never thought, in the 23 years I served in the military, that I would hear the commander-in-chief of the United States Military parroting a Russian talking point,” she continued.
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“And really, you know, it is astonishing to me that he would also betray our allies in Europe in this way and pave the way for Putin.” The president “essentially has just surrendered to Putin,” she added. “And that simply is not acceptable.”
Duckworth’s comments underscore growing tensions within U.S. political circles over Trump’s foreign policy stance. Many lawmakers, both Democratic and Republican, have expressed concern over the ramifications of his rhetoric on global stability and America’s commitment to its allies.
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