Democrats worry that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's virtual speech before Congress on Wednesday may have provided Republicans a strategic talking point, The Hill is reporting.
During his address, Zelenskyy noted President Joe Biden's role in trying to bring peace to Ukraine.
"You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation," he said of Biden. "I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace."
Some Republicans have been claiming Biden's response to the Russian invasion has been weak.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., slammed Biden as being "Bambi's baby brother" over his reluctance to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to fight back against Russia.
"Biden has done some things right. It's a short list," the Louisiana Republican said on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," before Zelenskyy's speech. "The West has imposed sanctions on Russia's central bank, which have hurt Putin, haven't brought him to his knees, but they've been helpful."
But still, Biden won't give Zelenskyy what he needs to fight the war, said Kennedy.
And The Hill noted that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said following Zelenskyy's speech that Biden needed to "step up his game."
Republican strategist John Feehery said Zelenskyy's remarks fit into the GOP narrative on Biden regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"I think there will be a lot of Republicans who ask for the White House to be more forceful based on Zelenskyy's comments," Feehery said. "The president hasn't been very forceful, and throughout this whole thing he had decent intelligence and they didn't do anything about it. He said we're going to do sanctions and they kind of sucked. Everything is underwhelming.
"Republicans will jump on this. I think Biden is in many ways congratulating himself for his restraint and the aid he's given, but it's cold comfort to the Ukrainians."
And Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Thursday that the U.S., through the Biden administration, is "sending a message of weakness" that is creating "chaos in the world."
"We're sending a message of weakness, and we're inviting the type of aggression that you could potentially see in leaders like Xi Jinping of China, and the mullahs in Iran and North Korea," the congresswoman said. "When the U.S. is weak, when the U.S. is not dictating the terms of engagement with [Vladimir] Putin and with all of our enemies around the world, particularly our biggest adversary, China, you're seeing chaos in the world."
The Hill pointed out that Democrats worry Zelenskyy's comments could be used against them in the midterms.
"I think it's a very real possibility," said one Democratic strategist. "I know we keep saying we're doing everything we can, but clearly there's a lot more we could be doing, and I'm not just talking about sending in troops.
"You could easily see Republicans making hay out of it."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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