Chamber honors McConnell at luncheon
Sen. Mitch McConnell, who came to Owensboro to meet with the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Thursday, advocated for a U.S. policy that includes increased defense spending and additional military support for Ukraine.
McConnell, who has been the leader of Senate Republicans longer than any other leader in history, told a full audience at the Owensboro Convention Center the United States should spend more on defense and continue providing military hardware to Ukraine, both as show of strength to the world and to halt current and future aggression by Russia and other expansionist autocracies.
“What we have now is the Axis of Evil — North Korea, China, Russia, Iran and Iran’s proxies,” McConnell told the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s membership. “What they have in common is they hate all democratic countries.”
McConnell, who has been at odds at times with former president, and current presidential candidate, Donald Trump, said there are similarities between current Trump campaign attitudes toward foreign involvement and the nation’s attitude before World War II.
‘The slogan back then was even similar, ‘America First,’ ” McConnell said.
At the time, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, and memories of World War I were still strong, McConnell said.
“There was a widespread feeling in the country that, ‘we just better hunker down here, because we don’t have anything to do with all this other stuff’ ” that was occurring in Europe and Asia, he said. “That, of course, played right into the hands of Hitler and the Japanese, and we were in the middle of a war.”
The United States has helped Ukraine, as the democratic country, defend itself against Russia’s invasion, which began in 2022.
“Most of what we are spending in Ukraine is being spent here, in 38 different states, retooling our industrial base, and sending older weapons to Ukraine,” McConnell said. Of criticisms that western European countries aren’t doing enough to support Ukraine, McConnell said, “they are doing more than we are.”
Asian democracies are also providing support to Ukraine, McConnell said.
“The one good thing that has come of this is I think we have awakened,” McConnell said. “More NATO countries are spending 2% of their (Gross Domestic Product), which is the threshold of seriousness” on defense.
“While we are talking about spending, let me say this: It’s a lot cheaper to prevent a war than it is to have one,” McConnell said.
McConnell, who said the President Ronald Reagan was his favorite president, said “Reagan had it right” when it came to advocating for a strong national defense.
“Peace you get through strength,” McConnell said.
Defense budgets submitted to Congress by President Joe Biden’s administration, McConnell said, “didn’t even keep up with inflation.”
“So it’s not just helping Ukraine, (which) is immensely important,” McConnell said, and that the U.S. needs to “build up defense spending to the point where (other nations) don’t want to mess with us.”
The idea of increasing defense spending is “a hard sell in a democracy,” McConnell said, but that, “I could be an aggressive spokesman for that, no matter who wins the presidential race.”
When moderator Joe Arnold asked how he thinks the war in Ukraine will end, McConnell said, “The Ukrainians have to win, but the definition of ‘win’ is complicated.
“It’s also true in Israel — what is the definition of ‘victory’?” McConnell said, referring to the almost year-long war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“My own view is when you have allies, democratically elected allies with whom we are associated and helping, we ought not dictate the terms of the fight.”
McConnell said the U.S. has put restrictions on how U.S. weapons can be used by Ukraine and Israel.
“The Biden has been trying to dictate to the Israelis what they can and can’t do. They’re also dictating to the Ukrainians what they can and can’t do, in terms of the types of weapons” used for offensive operations, McConnell said.
“I don’t know how it’s going to end,” McConnell said. “Putin is hoping we will all lose interest, and he’s hoping, through the Democratic process, people will get tired of it. I’m going to be arguing against that, because I think this directly relates to us.”
Ukraine losing the war would mean Russian president Vladimir Putin “would be emboldened to go into NATO” and attacking NATO countries in the Baltic States and Poland, McConnell said.
“But, I think the worst can be avoided by being strong, by looking strong and getting defense spending where it ought to be,” he said. “What they (Russia) respect is the possibility of a devastating attack.”
McConnell said he believes the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021 was seen as a sign of American weakness by Russia.
“I think the biggest mistake the Biden Administration made was running out of Afghanistan,” McConnell said.
When the U.S. withdrew troops after making a February 2020 agreement with the Taliban, “We hadn’t been in combat there in years, but we were keeping the lid on, and it was not an easy place to launch attacks like 9/11.”
The Taliban defeated the Afghan government and established a hardline Islamist government.
“A few months later (after the U.S. withdrawal), I can’t prove this, but a few months later Putin decides to attack Ukraine,” he said.
When asked his thoughts on the presidential election, McConnell agreed with the moderator’s statement that inflation and immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border are the main issues.
“I think those are the two weakest issues in the presidential race, because there’s no good answer to either one of them,” McConnell said.
McConnell said inflation increased during the Biden Administration because of stimulus spending, and described the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as “chaos.”
McConnell demurred at making a prediction in the presidential election, but said he expected the race to be close.
About seven states will determine the outcome, including Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada and Michigan, McConnell said.
“Look where (the campaigns) are going?” McConnell said, and that, “these are the states that are very competitive between the two parties … and played a major role in deciding the last two presidential elections, and that’s where I think it still is.”
While McConnell plans to step down as the GOP’s leader in the Senate, he said he is not retiring from office.
“I’m not leaving the Senate,” McConnell said. “I’m amazed I ended up being the longest Senate leader in history.”
By James Mayse Messenger-Inquirer