Michael Whatley, Donald Trump's hand-picked Republican National Committee (RNC) chair, lumped in Ukraine with China and Iran when listing the United States' "aggressive" adversaries on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures.
"Joe Biden's feckless leadership has shown China, has shown Ukraine, has shown Iran, that they can feel free to be much more aggressive on the world front to the point where even they will try and meddle with our elections here," Whatley told host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.
The Context:
Whatley, who previously served as the chair of the North Carolina Republican Party, was elected to lead the RNC in March and now serves alongside co-chair Lara Trump, daughter-in-law to the former president.
Whatley has advocated for "election integrity" as Trump has following the former president's 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Trump has continued to claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him via widespread voter fraud, despite there being no evidence of such tampering.
Trump, the presumed 2024 GOP presidential nominee, will likely go up against Biden, the Democratic incumbent, again in November, with the backing of the RNC.
What We Know:
"I think that we are seeing right now that this election truly, truly matters on national security...when America is weak, the world is a far more dangerous place," Whatley said about this year's upcoming election on Sunday.
He then blamed Biden for showing countries like Ukraine that they can meddle with U.S. elections, despite there being no evidence to prove his claim. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been dealing with a war against Russian aggression since February 2022.
It has been over two years since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of the Eastern European country. Biden has been a strong ally to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky throughout the conflict and continues to press Congress to give more aid to the war-torn country, while some Republican lawmakers push against additional funding.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email and the RNC via online form for comment.
Meanwhile, an investigation led by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Robert Mueller found that Russia attempted to help Trump win the presidency during his successful run in 2016, however, Trump's campaign team did not conspire with Moscow.
According to Mueller's findings, which were released in March 2019 in what is notoriously known as the Mueller report, "Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."
Russia has denied allegations of election inference and Trump has called the Mueller report a "complete and total exoneration."
Views:
The clip of Whatley's interview was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Aaron Rupar, who said that the RNC chair "says the quiet part loud" by portraying Ukraine as the adversary.
Responding to Rupar's post, X user @TrumpsTaxes wrote: "Jesus. When listing America's top adversaries, RNC Chair Whatley *includes* Ukraine (along with Iran and China) and *omits* Russia. The entire Republican Party is so deep into Putin's pocket it's frightening."
Another X user, Matthew Spira, wrote: "They're no longer even pretending that they aren't completely parroting Russian propaganda."
Recently, Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it's infected a good chuck of my party's base."
When Jake Tapper asked Representative Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, if he agrees with McCaul's statement on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, he said: "It is absolutely true."
What's Next?
With the general election only seven months away, Trump's and Biden's campaigns are gearing up for a rematch.
Last month, Biden raised $25 million at a New York City fundraiser with former Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, Trump's campaign said that the former president's Saturday Palm Beach, Florida, fundraiser dinner raised over $50.5 million.
Update 4/7/24, 11:57 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 4/7/24, 12:37 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
Update 4/7/24, 1:06 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
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