U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was one of many Republicans who voiced opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed Russian-Ukraine peace plan, which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted to the press was “authored” by the U.S. even as U.S. lawmakers called it “essentially the wish list of the Russians.”
McConnell said: “Putin has spent the entire year trying to play President Trump for a fool. If administration officials are more concerned with appeasing Putin than securing real peace, then the President ought to find new advisors.”
Vice President JD Vance responded to McConnell’s comment by writing: “This is a ridiculous attack on the president’s team, which has worked tirelessly to clean up the mess in Ukraine that Mitch–always eager to write blank checks to Biden’s foreign policy–left us. I wonder if the three candidates to replace McConnell in Kentucky share his views here.”
Unfortunately @SenMcConnell wrote too many checks to your sorry Senate campaign @JDVance where you were too lazy to raise enuf $$ yourself (and ran far behind the Ohio Gov) and this is how you say thank you to Mitch and our NATO alliance, you Putin stooge? https://t.co/JUBEuEV6dH
— Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) November 24, 2025
Former GOP Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R-VA) responded to Vance: “Unfortunately @SenMcConnell wrote too many checks to your sorry Senate campaign @JDVance where you were too lazy to raise enuf $$ yourself (and ran far behind the Ohio Gov) and this is how you say thank you to Mitch and our NATO alliance, you Putin stooge?”
Note: The three Republican candidates looking to replace McConnell are former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, U.S. Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), and the CEO of Kentucky-based company Morris Industries, Nate Morris.
Cameron replied to Vance: “I’ve been clear from the day I launched that I disagreed with Senator McConnell on this issue. No more billions to Ukraine and no more forever wars. We cannot keep writing blank checks overseas while families are struggling here at home. This position isn’t new. I’ve stood by it, and it’s also why I proudly support President Trump’s America First agenda.”
Note: Democrats running for McConnell’s seat include retired Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, Kentucky House Representative Pamela Stevenson, and former Secret Service agent Logan Foresight.
McGrath is amplifying the video of GOP Senator Mike Rounds rejecting Rubio’s plan and saying “It is NOT our recommendation, it is not our peace plan,” and added, “What a total mess.”
What a total mess. https://t.co/mV5JpAoAqC
— Amy McGrath (@AmyMcGrathKY) November 23, 2025