Rob Portman’s photo-ops

On Sunday, Ohio’s Senator Rob Portman attended a Ukrainian prayer service:

Sen. Rob Portman spoke during a prayer vigil at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma this afternoon.https://t.co/bPEshhfOpL

— WDTN (@WDTN) February 27, 2022

And here is a more recent Portman photo-op:

#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/zLxzhkgHoq

— Rob Portman (@senrobportman) February 28, 2022

It’s good to see Portman’s concern, but where was he and his Republican colleagues during the Trump administration? From Citizens for Ethics:

Wow, there are a lot of Republicans out today acting like Donald Trump didn't illegally withhold military aid from Ukraine and they didn't vote to give him a pass for it

— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) February 28, 2022

More specifically, what did Portman do when Trump withheld the Ukrainian military aid in order to bribe the Ukrainian president to find dirt on Hunter Biden? Answer: Going above and beyond the defense offered by most of his fellow Republicans, Portman supported Trump’s explanation. From Politico:

Trump praises 'honorable' Portman for corroborating Ukraine aid story

And of course, Portman followed his fellow Republicans and voted “no” on impeachment for Trump’s “perfect” call.

Within the last few days, Portman has criticized Biden and Obama (for not doing more when Russia invaded Crimea), but I have not seen any Portman criticism of Trump's recent statements. Portman co-chairs the Senate Ukraine caucus so I would think that we can look forward to hearing even more hypocritical statements from him on the situation in the Ukraine in the coming weeks.

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