Editor’s Note: The following was written and submitted by Ukrainian Americans for Biden Steering Committee and Advisors: Christine Balko Slywotzky, Orest Deychakiwsky, Marta Farion, Andrew Fedynsky, Irene Jarosewich, Khristina Lew, Ulana Mazurkevich, Adrian J. Slywotzky, Halyna Traversa, Tania Vitvitsky, Marta Fedoriw, Ksenia Kuzmycz, Nestor Olesnycky, Lew Rakowsky, Mark N. V. Temnycky.
In the article “Why Ukrainian Americans Should Vote Republican” (Aug. 20, 2020), George Woloshyn explains his version of why Ukrainians have and should vote Republican, and concludes with his opinion that “I don’t think Donald J. Trump disappoints both in his support for Ukraine and his pushback to Vladimir Putin.”
Woloshyn’s opinion is not supported by facts.
The bipartisan U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, on Aug. 18, released Volume V of their years-long investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. The report identifies numerous examples of Russian interference and concludes that not only did Russia interfere in support of the candidacy of Trump, but his campaign officials, most notably his campaign chairman Paul Manafort, had numerous contacts with Russian intelligence operatives throughout the campaign, as well as afterward, including Manafort’s promotion of the false KGB-inspired narrative that it was Ukraine, not Russia, behind U.S. election interference. These conclusions along with other documents, such as the U.S. Department of Justice Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election (The Mueller Report), establish that there is no basis to claim that Trump has provided any serious “pushback to Vladimir Putin,” rather, the opposite, that he has a history of active involvement with Ukraine’s sworn enemy.
Trump is indebted to Putin and has done nothing to distance himself from the Russian dictator, in Helsinki in 2018, praising him as a strong leader and stating that he believes Putin rather than the U.S. intelligence community he leads, an outrageous statement by a U.S. president that smacks of treason. Trump has publicly stated that he believes Crimea is a part of Russia; has called Ukrainians “a horrible people”; has withheld almost $400 million in military aid to Ukraine unless President Zelenskiy did him “a favor” and coerced Ukraine to find non-existent (therefore must create) compromising material regarding Joe Biden, and has repeatedly called for Russia to be re-admitted into the G-7, failing to remember that the reason Russia was kicked out in 2014 was because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Woloshyn is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts. The obsession of many Trump supporters with the past history of Republicans as a justification to vote for a Trump second term ignores the reality that leading Republicans are opposed to Trump. They state that he has abandoned traditional Republican values, and do not support what has become the cult of Trump.
Above all else, this election is not about some glorious Republican Party past, rather about the future, and about choosing the individual who has shown to have the character, intelligence, and proven leadership experience to lead America. That individual is not Trump.
