In 2016, Donald Trump showed that a Republican candidate can run, and win, without swearing fealty to the permanent war party. He ran on a platform of “America First,” and since that moment almost all Republican politicians and commentators have at least paid lip service to the idea.
Yet now, all of that is being thrown aside for the sake of Ukraine.
In 2019, would-be America First Senator Josh Hawley delivered a speech about “Rethinking America’s Foreign Policy Consensus,” condemning “endless wars” and “metastasizing commitments” to far-off countries, and demanding a new narrower focus on keeping America and Americans safe and prosperous.
And then Ukraine came along, and Hawley suddenly looked like any other Republican from 2006.
Just finished a briefing with President Zelensky of #Ukraine, whose courage on behalf of his people is inspiring. Zelensky urgently asked the US to stop imports of Russian gas and oil. More important than almost any other sanction, he said. When will Joe Biden listen?
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) March 5, 2022
