House Speaker Mike Johnson's, R-La., decision to hold a long-delayed vote on aid for Ukraine could cost him his job because some of his fellow Republicans would much prefer the government in Moscow to the one in Kyiv, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, said Thursday.
In February, the U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, but only this week did Johnson promise to hold a vote in the lower chamber, saying he intends to break the package up into separate bills. That comes as Ukraine's military is running out of ammunition and Russia is making territorial gains.
But Johnson's decision has thrown the Republican caucus into turmoil. The party's base has been suspicious of Ukraine ever since former President Donald Trump falsely accused its government of intervening in the 2016 election on behalf of Hillary Clinton. Now the more extreme MAGA wing, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is in open revolt, threatening to do to Johnson what they did to his predecessor, former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Speaking to CNN's Manu Raju, Crenshaw — who is backing Trump's 2024 bid for the White House despite Trump previously declining to endorse the Texas Republican's own reelection — was frank about what he thinks is going on.
"I guess their reasoning is they want Russia to win so badly that they want to oust the speaker over it," Crenshaw said. "I mean, it's a strange position to take. I think they want to be in the minority too. I think that's an obvious reality."
Crenshaw added: "I'm still trying to process all the bulls**t."
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