Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that former President Donald Trump leading the Republican Party to an isolationist stance was both wrong and dangerous.
Partial transcript as follows:
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about where the conservative movement is these days with Russia. J.D. Vance, an Ohio candidate for Senate, said on a podcast recently, ‘I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.’ Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri told CBS the U.S. should not send troops to any NATO country since the U.S. can’t afford it. So there is this non-interventionist, isolationist movement that President Trump himself really endorsed with America First. I mean, how do you explain to voters why that view- Republican view- is wrong?
CHENEY: Look, we’ve- we’ve been down that road before, we’ve seen isolationism in both parties, and it’s always been wrong and it’s always been dangerous. America cannot defend and maintain our own freedom and security if we think that we’re going to simply withdraw from the world and not lead. You know, we are watching today the brutality of Vladimir Putin as he attempts to invade a democratic sovereign nation.
And anyone who thinks that U.S. freedom and security is going to be maintained if we take a step back and don’t lead, you simply need to look at what’s happening in Ukraine to recognize that- that those who fill the void when the U.S. steps away are people like the Russians, like the Chinese, like the Iranians. And so the idea that- that the world will be safe and that America will be able to be safe and free with an isolationist approach is wrong. It’s also wrong morally. You know, America stands for freedom. America was founded on fundamental principles of freedom.
And- and I think it’s- it’s indefensible for people to abandon those or suggest that we are- we have no- no view as between Russia and Ukraine in this battle.
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