Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Kayleigh McEnany ridiculed for accusing Biden of holding up Ukraine aid after infamous Trump call

‘Delay seems to be modus operandi for this administration,’ McEnany tells Fox News

Andrew Feinberg
Washington, DC
Thursday 17 March 2022 22:52 GMT
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Former White House Press Secretary Kaylaigh McEnany worked for Donald Trump’s failed 2020 presidential campaign during the first of his two impeachment trials. But a recent appearance on the Fox News show she co-hosts calls into question whether she was paying much attention to current events during that time.

On Wednesday’s edition of Outnumbered, Ms McEnany claimed Mr Biden was not acting fast enough to send weapons to the Ukrainian forces defending against Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

“Delay seems to be modus operandi for this administration,” she said. “Delay in response, delay in sanctions, delay in sending the MiGs, delay in everything and it just makes you wonder, why?”

Between aid authorised by Congress and that which Mr Biden has now made available under his own authority, the US has sent more than $1bn-worth of military and humanitarian assistance to Kyiv.

Additionally, it was Ms McEnany’s former boss who made a point of withholding aid to Ukraine for political purposes, leading to him being impeached for the first time.

The House of Representatives voted to impeach the then-president in December 2019 after a series of dramatic hearings in which witnesses described how he attempted to blackmail Volodymyr Zelensky, then the newly-elected president of Ukraine, into launching sham investigations of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

At the time, Mr Trump was gearing up to run for re-election and Mr Biden, who would go on to defeat Mr Trump in the 2020 election, was one of the myriad Democrats hoping to earn the party’s nomination. But Mr Trump used a now-infamous 25 July 2019 phone call with Mr Zelensky to pressure him to announce the investigations in exchange for receiving Javelin anti-tank missiles needed to repel Russian-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine.

Twitter users seized on Ms McEnany’s comments, saying it appeared “she’s already forgotten what the first impeachment was about”.

“Someone please remind this twit why Trump was impeached the first time. Without her binder she’s clueless,” one critic said, referencing the massive binder Ms McEnany used at White House briefings.

“The Republicans have mortally wounded irony,” another wrote.

“McEnany and Fox take reality and twist it in knots,” a third added.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in