Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Sunday deemed China, Russia and Iran the new \u2018axis of evil\u2019 amid wars in Ukraine and Israel, while addressing U.S. funding of allies\u2019 responses to those duel conflicts.<\/p>\n
In a new sit-down interview with \u2018Fox News Sunday\u2019 host Shannon Bream, McConnell, the highest-ranking Senate Republican, agreed with fellow Republican Kentuckian Sen. Rand Paul that the $1.5 trillion deficit is \u2018entirely too big.\u2019 But while Paul remarked last month that the U.S. under the Biden administration was borrowing heavily from China just to send aid to Ukraine, McConnell instead emphasized Sunday that the deficit also expanded during the prior administration under former President Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018You have to respond to conditions that actually exist that are a threat to the United States. The Iranians are a threat to us as well. And so, this is an emergency. It\u2019s an emergency that we step up and deal with this axis of evil \u2013 China, Russia, Iran \u2013 because it\u2019s an immediate threat to the United States,\u2019 McConnell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018In many ways the world is more endangered today than it has been in my lifetime,\u2019 McConnell said, recalling that unlike when the Berlin Wall fell, the world faces a \u2018big power competition\u2019 coinciding with the terrorism threats in the Middle East and culminating in Israel\u2019s war against Hamas terrorists.<\/p>\n
\u2018The question is, is American going to lead?\u2019 McConnell posed to Bream. \u2018I think the Biden administration sent the wrong signal and they had the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. I think that was like giving a green light to Putin to go into Ukraine. And we see that Iran, principal sponsor of terrorism, sending drones to the Russians and attacking \u2013 Hezbollah and in this particular situation, Hamas \u2013 attacking the Israelis with drones. So it\u2019s all connected. You can\u2019t separate out one part of it and say we\u2019re only gonna deal with this. It\u2019s all connected.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
McConnell said, \u2018We know which side they\u2019re on\u2019 in regard to China\u2019s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, adding, \u2018We need to view this as a worldwide problem.\u2019<\/p>\n
As for the budget supplemental, McConnell said Senate Republicans will want something \u2018credible on the border,\u2019 telling Bream, \u2018If we\u2019re going to accept the financial responsibility of helping our allies we certainly want to do something to help ourselves.\u2019 Bream noted how Republicans like Sen. JD Vance of Ohio are critical of President Biden for tying Ukrainian aid to the atrocities seen in Israel during Hamas\u2019 deadly Oct. 7 attack to ask Congress for more funding, but McConnell argued the conflicts are connected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I don\u2019t view this as about whether to give Biden credit or not. This is a question of whether it\u2019s a serious threat to the United States. If the Russians aren\u2019t defeated, they\u2019ll go into a NATO country next,\u2019 McConnell warned. \u2018And the notion that somehow our Asian allies are unconcerned about Ukraine is completely wrong.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018The prime minister of Japan said if you want to send President Xi a message, beat the Russians in Ukraine,\u2019 he continued. \u2018The South Koreans, the Japanese, the Taiwanese are all interested in what\u2019s happening over in Ukraine because they know President Xi is watching that. President Xi recently declared that they had an endless friendship with the Russians. What more do you need to know about how relevant Ukraine is to Asia and to the Middle East?\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Bream asked McConnell what China might be making of Axios reporting that artillery shells the U.S. designated for Ukraine are being diverted to Israel and that Taiwan has millions of dollars worth of equipment and artillery that the U.S. has been unable to fulfill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018One of the best things about this from a U.S. point of view, is when we give older equipment to the Ukrainians for example, we are rebuilding our industrial base in this country. There are jobs being created by the help we\u2019re providing Ukraine in 38 states. And rebuilding our industrial complex for the more serious big power threat in Asia. So the notion that our assistance for Ukraine is not helpful to us is something not factual.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n