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By Anna Commander
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Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney had some choice words for Vice President JD Vance over Ukraine—as she quoted GOP icon and former President Ronald Reagan—who once discussed the fragility of a nation's freedom, saying it's "never more than one generation away from extinction."
Newsweek reached out to Cheney at the Center for Politics and the White House via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Cheney, a staunch Trump critic, has voiced her concern over the current administration's policy and comments surrounding the war in Ukraine. Trump has expressed fierce criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and during a news conference this week falsely claimed Ukraine started the war with Russia.
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Russia annexed parts of Ukraine in 2014 and launched a military invasion against its neighbor in 2022. Trump has also been critical of aid sent to Ukraine under the Biden administration, questioning whether other countries have stepped up.
What To Know
In a lengthy post to X, formerly Twitter, Vance argued that the war in Ukraine would have never started if President Donald Trump were in office, echoing a sentiment frequently repeated by the president. Vance added that the administration of former President Joe Biden, Ukraine or Europe had no "pathway to victory."
Vance's post was reacting to columnist, historian and author Niall Ferguson's quoting of former President George H.W. Bush on the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq while writing on the Russia-Ukraine war. Vance questioned if Ferguson had a plan for Ukraine and bashed him for using the quote from a different historical time.
Vance then continued that European allies are benefiting from the "generosity" of the United States via aid packages. The vice president noted that Russia has a "massive" advantage over Ukraine in manpower and weapons. He said the U.S. still maintains "substantial leverage" over both Russia and Ukraine and ending the war requires communication with the parties involved.
The vice president added that the ongoing conflict has put "stress" on American stockpiles and sanctions. "Given the above facts, we must pursue peace, and we must pursue it now. President Trump ran on this, he won on this, and he is right about this. It is lazy, ahistorical nonsense to attack as 'appeasement' every acknowledgment that America's interest must account for the realities of the conflict," Vance said.
"That interest--not moralisms or historical illiteracy--will guide President Trump's policy in the weeks to come. And thank God for that," he concluded.
In a reply on X, Cheney ripped Vance's breakdown of the current state of the war: "Rarely has so much ignorance and ahistorical BS been crammed into a single tweet. I know you and @realDonaldTrump are busy surrendering to a KGB butcher, abandoning the cause of freedom, and destroying the security of America and her allies, but you would do well, @JDVance, to spend some time actually studying history," Cheney said.
"Start here with Ronald Reagan: 'Perhaps you and I have lived too long with this miracle to properly be appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and it's never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. And those in world history who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.'"
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What People Are Saying
The Republicans Against Trump account posted to X on Thursday: "The U.S. under Trump clearly does not stand for freedom, democracy, or its allies. This will leave America more isolated and weakened for years to come."
Ferguson, also a Harvard senior faculty fellow, responded to Vance in his column in The Free Press: "Fighting words for a peacemaker. But I would expect nothing less from the author of Hillbilly Elegy, who has lived the American dream by rising up from a dysfunctional family in the Midwest to being a heartbeat away from the highest office in the republic and the most powerful job in the world.
"That said, as I told Vance when I first met him eight years ago—I wonder if he remembers that dinner in San Francisco—I come from a city that was doing Rust Belt dysfunction back in the 1970s, while Ohio was still booming. A Glaswegian can take it, and dish it out."
Ferguson later added: "It is not moralistic garbage, historical illiteracy, or globalism to say that the fall of Kyiv to Russia is an event no president and vice president should wish to occur on their watch. The fall of Kabul was an event that permanently damaged President Biden's standing. The fall of Saigon was an event from which Gerald Ford's presidency never recovered. And it was Jimmy Carter's misfortune to see not only Kabul fall to the Soviets but also Tehran to the ayatollahs."
Trump, in a lengthy post on Truth Social about Zelensky on Wednesday: "Think of it, a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a War that he, without the U.S. and "TRUMP," will never be able to settle. The United States has spent $200 Billion Dollars more than Europe, and Europe's money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back. Why didn't Sleepy Joe Biden demand Equalization, in that this War is far more important to Europe than it is to us — We have a big, beautiful Ocean as separation."
Trump continued: "On top of this, Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is "MISSING." He refuses to have Elections, is very low in Ukrainian Polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden "like a fiddle." A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only "TRUMP," and the Trump Administration, can do. Biden never tried, Europe has failed to bring Peace, and Zelenskyy probably wants to keep the "gravy train" going. I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died – And so it continues....."
What Happens Next
Trump says he may meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin this month to discuss the war.
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