The Republican VP candidate wouldn’t take Kiev’s calls about F-16s, in line with texts
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, whom Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump picked as his working mate, refused to take calls from Ukraine about F-16 deliveries, the Washington Put up reported on Wednesday.
The declare was primarily based on textual content messages Vance has exchanged with Charles Johnson, described by the Put up as a blogger “who has zealously promoted right-wing conspiracy theories” in addition to a federal informant. Johnson offered a few of these messages to the Put up.
“Dude I received’t even take calls from Ukraine,” Vance messaged Johnson final October. “Two very senior guys reached out to me. The pinnacle of their intel. The pinnacle of the Air Pressure. Bitching about F16s.”
One other message, which the Put up didn’t quote, allegedly ridiculed “the psychological state of a pro-Ukraine activist,” whereas one other urged that the US intelligence group was engineering media assist for Ukraine by telling Johnson the spies ought to “up the doses of Xanax among the many rank and file.”
Xanax is a tranquilizer often prescribed for panic and nervousness problems.
The Put up has introduced the messages as proof that Vance “gravitates to individuals on the political fringe” and validation of the Democrats’ branding of Trump’s working mate as “bizarre.”
Vance’s spokesman William Martin advised the Put up that the senator was by no means shut with Johnson and that the 2 don’t share the identical politics.
“Chuck Johnson spam texted JD Vance,” Martin mentioned. “JD often ignored him, however sometimes responded to push again towards issues he mentioned.”
The 40-year-old freshman senator, tapped final month to be Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, has lengthy been a critic of the present administration’s limitless assist for Ukraine. He voted towards the $61 billion support invoice to Kiev that was finally rammed by means of Congress in April.
He additionally wrote a New York Occasions op-ed arguing that Ukraine’s downside was not political, however mathematical: it wanted extra males than it may draft and extra tools than the US and its allies may present.
The US Congress has authorized virtually $175 billion in support to Ukraine for the reason that battle with Russia started in 2022. Ukraine has acquired an estimated $70 billion value of money, weapons, tools and ammunition, whereas the remainder of the cash went to the Pentagon, US weapons producers, and different applications.
Supply hyperlink
