By Samuel Short September 26, 2024 at 9:18am
House Speaker Mike Johnson is taking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to task for his role in the Democrats’ latest stunt pulled in Pennsylvania, calling it “election interference.”
On Sunday, Zelenskyy visited the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The intent was clear as Scranton is President Joe Biden’s hometown and – as Johnson notes in his letter to Zelenskyy from Wednesday – not a single Republican was in attendance because none were invited. Zelenskyy was seen alongside Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro in a now viral clip where Shapiro signed missiles to be used in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
Johnson was frank in his letter to Zelenskyy, demanding that the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova be fired for organizing the visit which was, “designed to help Democrats.”
After organizing a partisan campaign event in a battleground state this week, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova demonstrated she cannot be trusted to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country.
President Zelenskyy must immediately remove her. pic.twitter.com/7GmN1NECBs
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) September 25, 2024
The speaker quoted Zelenskyy in saying, “As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being ‘captured by American domestic politics,’ and ‘influencing the choices of the American people’ ahead of the November election.”
Johnson called out the president in going against that approach.
“Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site,” the speaker said.
Johnson referred to Sunday as “shortsighted” and an “intentionally political move” causing “Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country.”
“These incidents cannot be repeated,” Johnson said bluntly, concluding by telling Zelenskyy, “I trust you will take immediate action.”
The affair was made all the more egregious when taking into consideration that Zelenskyy was flown over by the Air Force and decided to make statements about the Republican party ticket for November, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
Worth noting that Zelenskyy was flown to Pennsylvania on an U.S. Air Force C-17.
The Biden-Harris admin is using military assets to fly a foreign leader into a battleground state in order to undermine their political opponents. https://t.co/OSebVUuBEg pic.twitter.com/biMGTfAc1J
— Dan Caldwell 🇺🇸 (@dandcaldwell) September 23, 2024
It’s obvious Zelenskyy has a major stake in this election.
Under the Biden/Harris administration, his government has received hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to fight a war against Russia.
While both Democrats and Republicans have supported legislation to fund this war while their constituents struggle to afford gas and groceries, one person who isn’t putting up with that is Trump.
In his ABC debate with Harris from early September, Trump reiterated a point he has made multiple times that — if elected — he would be able to end Ukraine’s war with Russia before his inauguration in 2025.
That claim alone is enough to make Zelenskyy realize a Harris presidency is the best outcome should he want to see funding continue.
Johnson’s demand is understandable, but the Democrats and the Ukrainians are probably going to get away with this one.
Despite being tantamount to election interference, Harris was not present.
Her lone bit of plausible deniability is that this ordeal was not an official campaign event.
That being said, any thinking person clearly sees what Ukraine is doing. They need a Harris win.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London.
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