Kevin McCarthy fact-checked for claim US should have supplied Ukraine with arms sooner

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy recently claimed that the US was too slow in sending Ukraine the much-needed arms to fight off Russian aggression. However, McCarthy drew backlash from netizens who pointed out the House Minority Leader’s choice to support Donald Trump in the scandal that would cause his first impeachment.

McCarthy took to Twitter to criticize the speed at which the US is providing Ukraine with the needed arms and military equipment to fight off Russia as dictator Vladimir Putin continues the invasion. McCarthy said that the US should have supplied Ukraine with arms sooner and called to ramp up sending arms to Taiwan, as the island nation is speculated to be facing the same conflict in the future.

“Just as the United States should have supplied weapons to Ukraine sooner, we should speed up the sale of weapons to Taiwan so they can safeguard their future against China,” tweeted McCarthy.

However, many have pointed out that the needed assistance to Ukraine would have arrived sooner had Trump not attempted to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into smearing President Joe Biden. The infamous phone call to Zelenskyy would become the central issue of Trump’s first impeachment. McCarthy opposed impeaching Trump at that time, saying that the now-former president was in his right to do so.

“Donald Trump illegally cut off defensive aid to Ukraine to blackmail President Zelenskyy and McCarthy defended it,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Don Beyer.

“Did you say that to Trump when he withheld the congressionally-authorized military assistance to Ukraine to coerce Zelenskyy to help Trump’s re-election campaign?” tweeted attorney Dan Goldman.

McCarthy has since been coming under fire in recent weeks for his weak attempts to take control of his caucus from staunch Trump supporters Reps. Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. The House Minority Leader was criticized in a piece for St. Louis Today, by columnist Kevin McDermott, who criticized McCarthy’s attempts to reprimand Greene, following her appearance at a white nationalist event.

McDermott also drew a stark contrast between McCarthy and Zelenskyy, saying that while the Ukrainian president boldly stood against Russian aggression by refusing to leave Kyiv and calling for assistance, McCarthy ran from reporters who pressed him about condemning Greene.