Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Sunday visit to a Scranton munitions plant sparked outrage, calling for the firing of Ukraine’s ambassador and an investigation into whether the visit was an “abuse of government resources” by House Republicans. Now the White House and the Pentagon have also spoken out.
“We would encourage Republicans to abandon this proposal,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference Thursday. “It’s a political stunt. They need to quit this.
It all started on Sunday, when Zelensky visited an Army ammunition plant in Scranton accompanied by Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Republican Matt Cartwright, whose district includes Scranton. The plant produces equipment necessary for Ukraine’s defense war with Russia.
No elected Republicans were present at the event, and it is unclear whether they were invited. This apparently outraged the leader of the House of Representatives of the Republican Party, Johnson, who wrote a letter to Zelensky calling for the firing of Ukraine’s ambassador to the US.
“The facility was located on a disputed training ground and was headed by a leading politician deputy Kamala Harris and not a single Republican was included because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “The trip was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and clearly constitutes election interference.”
But Jean-Pierre said Sunday that the visit to the munitions plant was requested by Ukraine, not the Harris campaign or the White House. The Pentagon called the trip “official business.”
“Regarding Sunday’s trip to Pennsylvania, the flight was a mission funded by the U.S. Department of Defense,” said James Adams, a Pentagon spokesman. “These officials were handling official matters related to U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.”
Jean-Pierre added that Sunday was also not Zelensky’s first meeting with the guerrilla group of elected officials since the beginning of the war. In July, Zelensky traveled to Utah to talk to a bipartisan group of governors within the National Governors Association. There, Zelensky met with Utah’s governor, a Republican, and the state’s congressional delegation, all of whom were Republicans.
Shapiro, Casey meet with Zelensky at a munitions plant in Scranton
Other House Republicans echoed Johnson’s appeal, and nine signed on to a letter asking for a Justice Department investigation.
Neither Harris nor the election were mentioned in video and press materials released by Shapiro after his visit to Scranton, which was held under close surveillance.
In a separate letter, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-La.) announced an investigation into “whether the Biden-Harris administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign and, if so, whether it necessarily committed an abuse of power.”
Other Democrats are also pushing.
“The Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton plays a critical role in strengthening Ukraine’s forces, and I was honored to join President Zelensky in thanking Pennsylvania workers for helping us defend democracy,” Casey said in a social media post. “Attempts to denigrate his visit to our Republic are an insult and a disgrace.”
Support for Ukraine’s defensive war with Russia became a key issue in the American presidential campaign, in which both candidates presented strongly opposing views.
Harris called on the United States to continue supporting Ukraine with military aid. She held a joint press conference with Zelensky today
Former President Donald Trump, on the other hand, criticized American support for Ukraine and often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin. During a debate with Harris earlier this month, he refused to answer questions about whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.
Yesterday in North Carolina, Trump said Ukraine had been “totally destroyed” in the war and accused Zelensky of making “petty, nasty slander” about him.
On Thursday, Trump said he would meet with Zelensky at Trump Tower in New York.
His running mate, J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), has previously criticized U.S. support for Ukraine. Critics say the peace plan he presented was actually a concession to Russia
Questionnaire has repeatedly showed that a majority of Americans support providing support to Ukraine, with many saying the United States should do more to assist.
Pennsylvania has the second highest number of Ukrainians of any state as a percentage of the total population.
