McCarthy Scolds Russian Reporter: ‘I Support Aid for Ukraine, I Don’t Support What Your Country Has Done’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, in Israel today, said that he supports continued U.S. aid to Ukraine. His remarks clarify comments he made last year, when he said that there would be “no blank check” for Ukraine. That was interpreted as the speaker’s signaling his potential support for cutting off Washington’s assistance to Kyiv.

During a press conference following a speech he delivered to Israel’s Knesset, a staff member of Russia’s RIA Novosti propaganda outlet asked about his stance on Ukraine aid, while noting that “you don’t support the current unlimited and uncontrolled supplies of weaponry and aid to Ukraine.”

McCarthy started his answer by saying that the sound in the room was unclear and asking if the Russian reporter had said he doesn’t support aid to Ukraine.

“No, I voted for aid to Ukraine,” he then said. “I support aid for Ukraine.”

McCarthy addressed the Russian reporter directly: “I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine. I do not support your killing of the children either. And I think from one standpoint you should pull out, and I don’t think it’s right.”

“And we will continue to support because the rest of the world sees it just as it is,” McCarthy concluded.

Last fall, McCarthy sparked speculation over his stance on Ukraine aid when he said multiple times that a GOP House majority would not write a “blank check,” citing the fact that the American national debt is $30 trillion. Then, in March, he publicly turned down an invitation from President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit the country. During the CNN interview where he rejected Zelensky’s invite, he reiterated his “no blank check” stance.

That stance, however, has left him room to demand more accountability for U.S. assistance to Kyiv, including by demanding oversight of military aid, while maintaining Washington’s support of the Ukrainian war effort. To date, Congress has authorized over $100 billion in funds to respond to the Russian invasion, including direct assistance to Ukraine, military assistance drawdowns, and funds to beef up U.S. and NATO defenses and the American defense industrial base and supply chains.

Moreover, in remarks that went generally overlooked last month, McCarthy hinted that he views Russia’s alignment with China as the defining national-security threat of this era — one that will shape his legacy as speaker. He mentioned this during a press conference following a meeting between a bipartisan congressional delegation and Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen in California.

“When we watch what’s happening in the world today — a movement and a gathering that looks like a new axis of power — I think back to what could have the lawmakers done then [so] that that never took place in the 30s,” he said. Although he was ostensibly talking about China, his reference to an “axis” seemed to refer to the Sino-Russian “no limits” partnership.

McCarthy’s comment today can also potentially be viewed as the latest in a string of setbacks for the congressional GOP’s foreign-policy “restraint” wing.

Recently, a letter by congressional Ukraine-aid skeptics received signatures from only three senators and 16 House members, with some prominent figures, such as Senator Josh Hawley, apparently not signing on. And the recent departure of Tucker Carlson from his perch at Fox News has left that faction without a key outside advocate for noninterventionism.