House Speaker Mike Johnson showed leadership and courage with his push to pass a slate of foreign aid legislation, particularly the assistance for Ukraine, while facing political repercussions including threats to call a vote to oust him from his seat, former Rep. Pete King said on Newsmax Sunday.
"I strongly supported these bills, particularly the aid to Ukraine, because it's aid for America," said the New York Republican, appearing on Newsmax's "Wake Up America" with former Georgia GOP Rep. Jack Kingston. "That to me, is a strong vote for American foreign policy to protect American lives and jobs."
Johnson, R-La., will "take a short-term hit" for his work with Democrats that led to the bills passing by wide margins, but "when people look at it overall, they realize he did the right thing," King added.
"There is a small fringe with the party which has an outsized voice in opposing the aid to Ukraine, but I give him credit," he said. "It was a tough decision to make, but he did it, and I stand with him on it."
One part of the five-piece legislation, which addressed border security, did not pass, and Kingston said that's because immigration has become a partisan issue.
"If you look back 20 years ago, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton were for building a wall and we passed it," Kingston said. "Peter will remember routinely part of the appropriation bill went to fund walls and strengthen the border."
But now the issue is a fight between parties and a matter of President Joe Biden versus former President Donald Trump, Kingston said.
"The only way we're gonna get some sort of a border [bill] is to absolutely force it," he said. "That's why this group was so frustrated yesterday. They felt that the Ukraine funding was a high Biden priority, and they wanted to exact the price for it and get the price in the form of some sort of border security, and that failed to happen."
The funding measures needed to pass, Kingston agreed, "but I also think we should have gotten something for it."
King agreed that he supports border legislation as well, but much of the problem is that Biden used executive orders to repeal Trump's policies.
However with some Republicans undermining the speaker, that makes passing border legislation difficult, said King.
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