Wednesday, during an appearance on the Fox News Channel, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) reiterated his opposition to allowing Ukraine to join NATO, a stance panned as “Vladimir Putin’s position.”
According to the Missouri Republican, such a move by NATO could mean even more U.S. troops in stationed in Europe.
“I’m against it because it would mean more troops, more American troops, Tucker in Europe at a time when we need to be focusing less on Europe and more on our major security threats elsewhere, China, and then, of course, our own Southern border,” he said. “I mean, listen, if we expand NATO, it means that the United States will be providing additional security guarantees that we will be more embroiled in European conflicts.”
“This isn’t the time for that,” Hawley continued. “We can’t do everything. The United States can’t do everything. We’ve got to focus on the safety of the American people, and the number one threat to that abroad right now is China, in addition to, of course, our problems on our Southern border.”
Hawley dismissed his critics and maintained U.S. focus abroad should be in other places.
“Well, you know, first of all, I mean, those charges are so ridiculous and outrageous from an administration that has coddled the Russians and coddled Putin,” Hawley said. “But again, I think a lot of folks just haven’t thought about what NATO should be doing in the 21st Century and haven’t thought about the fact that we have to make tough choices, and right now, we’ve got to put American security interests first. And that means we’ve got to focus on China, and we’ve got to focus on our own borders. We need to ask our European allies to do more.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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