By Julie Carr Smyth The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Vice President JD Vance was dismissing Ukraine long before he upended an Oval Office meeting Friday by calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “disrespectful” and asking if he had ever thanked the U.S. for its support.
When Vance was a candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio in 2022, he said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that he thought it was ridiculous that the U.S. was focused on the border between Ukraine and Russia. “I gotta be honest with you,” he told the host, a Trump ally. “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”