Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday night at a CNN town hall meeting over its perceived sluggishness in providing military aid to embattled Ukraine.
Pence's remarks came mere hours after officially announcing his intention to run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Reflecting on the promises made by the Biden administration, Pence pointed out, "I mean, they promised 33 Abrahams tanks back in January. They're still waiting on 'em we're waiting on F-16s to be transferred from somewhere."
In his criticism, Pence also pointed out that he and his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump, had reversed an Obama-Biden era policy that had restricted the delivery of military resources to Ukraine. During their tenure, Pence noted, they had provided Ukraine with javelin missiles, while the previous administration had given "military meals and blankets."
"We corrected that and Ukraine was better suited to be able to deal with this Russian invasion," Pence emphasized.
During the evening, Pence did not shy away from critiquing his former boss, particularly regarding Trump's recent comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin. He contrasted Trump's description of Putin as a 'genius' with his perspective, stating, "I know the difference between a genius and a war criminal, and I know who needs to win in the war in Ukraine and it is the people fighting for their freedom and fighting to restore their national sovereignty in Ukraine."
Pence stressed that while it was not America's war, the fight for freedom should be a global concern. He also warned that presuming Putin would cease his aggression after Ukraine would be a grave miscalculation. "He has no intention of stopping. He's made it clear that he wants to recreate that old Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe," Pence predicted.
In stark contrast, Trump's commentary during his own CNN town hall last month centered around an immediate cessation of conflict without taking definitive sides. Trump said, "I want everybody to stop dying. They're dying. Russians and Ukrainians. I want them to stop dying. And I'll have that done in 24 hours."
Questioned about providing U.S. military aid to Ukraine, Trump questioned the feasibility and appropriateness of this move, saying, "We're giving away so much equipment, we don't have ammunition for ourselves right now."
Addressing Putin's actions, Trump said, "If you say he's a war criminal, it's going to be a lot tougher to make a deal to make this thing stopped." He called Putin "smart" but added that he'd made a severe error initiating the conflict. He asserted this wouldn't have happened under his watch, stating, "His mistake was going in. He would have never gone in if I was president."
Joining the discourse, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, also vying for the 2024 Republican nomination, highlighted during her CNN town hall that the Ukraine conflict is about more than just territorial disputes. Haley criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for undermining the gravity of the situation.
She also attributed the current crisis to President Biden's mishandling of the U.S... withdrawal from Afghanistan. The former ambassador argued that such blunders in international policy had fueled the present chaos. "We've got chaos everywhere and none of that would've happened," Haley asserted, blaming Biden's miscalculations for the currently unstable global scenario.
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