Ukraine President Should Stop 'Bullying America': NJ Republican Pundit

NUTLEY, NJ — “Who do you think you are trying to bully and intimidate America?” That was the reaction from former Nutley township commissioner and ardent Republican pundit, Steven Rogers, when he watched Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speak in a controversial interview with NBC news last week.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin and his supporters have seen widespread condemnation from the international community. The war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths, and has directly impacted many people in New Jersey.

However, Zelenskyy has also recently seen some criticism over comments he made during his interview with NBC news, where he insisted that “It's not Ukraine against Russia – Russia is fighting against the civilized world.”

Zelenskyy said if Russia overwhelms Ukraine, it could move on to a neighboring country that’s an ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), risking a wider world war. It was a viewpoint he punted back to former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – both of whom are questioning the level of military aid the U.S. is giving to Ukraine under President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Are they ready to start a war to send their children?” Zelenskyy questioned. “Are they ready to die? If Russia occupies Ukraine, they will move on to the Baltic countries, to Poland, to any NATO country, and in that particular case the U.S. will have to choose between dismantling NATO or fighting.”

Zelenskyy has pushed for Ukraine’s membership in NATO – a proposal that Putin has ardently opposed and which has seen mixed reactions among members of the military alliance. Zelenskyy has since conceded that it would be “impossible” for that to happen before the war with Russia is over.

ROGERS: ‘WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?’

On Tuesday, Rogers – a former police officer and military intelligence officer – blasted Zelenskyy for the statements he made to NBC, accusing him of “crossing a line.”

“First, who do you think you are trying to bully and intimidate America into a ground war with Russia?” he said. “You should be thanking God for the support you have received from our pockets and our bank accounts.”

“Such tactics do not sit very well with the American people,” insisted Rogers, who was a member of Trump’s 2020 Campaign Advisory Board, and was one of the driving forces behind the America Winning Coalition, which tried to rally Garden State voters to reelect Trump.

• See Related: NJ Conservative Group To GOP Leaders: 'We're Tired Of Losing'

“Americans always have been willing to send our children into harm's way for the causes of freedom, liberty, and individual rights,” he continued. “But let me be clear, we are not willing to send our children to fight endless wars on the terms of any foreign politician, including you.”

Rogers added that he is not sold on the idea that Russia would invade a NATO country.

“So to use that speculation – not fact – as a tactic in an attempt to scare the American people into submission just backfired on you,” he said.

Rogers continued:

“We will not have to choose between fighting for NATO later, or fighting for your war now. This is Europe's war, not ours. This war has nothing to do with U.S. national security. This is a political war we don't belong in. We in America heard this song and dance years ago from politicians like you at a different place and a different time. The time: the 1960s. The place? Vietnam.”

Many New Jersey residents – including those in Nutley and Belleville – have launched fundraisers and other campaigns to aid Ukraine over the past year and a half. Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to shell out billions in foreign aid and military assistance.

Since the war began, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have reportedly directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine. Dozens of other countries, including most NATO members and the European Union, are also providing large aid packages to Ukraine, according to a May report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

The World Bank estimated in March that the cost of rebuilding the country one year on from the start of the war amounted to $411 billion. Seeking to raise money for the effort, Zelensky has enlisted BlackRock and JPMorgan to advise on the Ukraine Development Fund, a vehicle that seeks to mobilize capital from private and public sector investors toward rebuilding the Ukrainian economy, CNN reported.

As the war continues to intensify, nearly half of Americans (47%) say either that the United States is providing the right amount of aid (31%) or not enough assistance (16%) to Ukraine, a recent Pew Research Center survey showed.

However, 44% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say the U.S. is giving too much aid to Ukraine, according to the survey.

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