In reality, GOP’s ‘America First’ rhetoric puts America’s security last

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 | 9:27 p.m.

For months, we have explained why domestic policy proposals of Republican candidates are anti-freedom, anti-liberty and anti-American. But throughout that time, we’ve said little about their foreign policy proposals. That was in large part because very few Republican candidates have provided any details of their foreign policy, dubbed “America First.”

But this week, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy provided a vivid demonstration of why “America First” is nothing more than a marketing slogan that fails the American people when applied to real-life circumstances.

The California Republican is widely considered the front-runner for speaker of the House should Republicans take control of Congress’ lower chamber. He confirmed to Punchbowl News this week that GOP support for Ukraine is wavering. “I think people are going to be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” he said.

McCarthy’s statements echo those of numerous other Republicans, including Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., who told Axios that “When people are seeing a 13% increase in grocery prices; energy, utility bills doubling ... Ukraine is the furthest thing from your mind.”

This is classic “America First” rhetoric that creates the perception that anything happening elsewhere in the world is separate and unconnected to what is happening here in the United States. It sets up a binary choice between investing in America first or sending resources elsewhere, with the implication being that money sent elsewhere has no benefit to Americans.

McCarthy, Armstrong and much of the rest of the Republican delegation are proposing that somehow, by surrendering Ukraine — the world’s largest exporter of grain — to Russia, food prices will go down. That doesn’t even make sense.

Moreover, they want to hand all of that food and all of the money it brings in (over $27 billion in annual agricultural exports alone), to an enemy that intentionally targets civilian populations and just threatened the U.S. and our allies with nuclear war. It’s a national security nightmare.

Worst of all, America First rhetoric ignores the long-term implications of foreign policy for nonsensical domestic talking points. If Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, he isn’t stopping. And an unleashed Putin is a profound danger to Americans.

Indeed, consider the crew Putin assembled for international support: North Korea, Iran, China, Belarus, Saudi Arabia. All of them are ruled by tyrants who want to harm America. GOP appeasement of tyrants is not a strategy that places America first in any sense. It’s just appeasement that will lead to disaster for our country.

The message it would send to our allies around the world is just as damaging. It announces to the world that the U.S. kneels to tyrants. Why would anyone want to align themselves with America then? America First to the GOP really means America groveling on the world stage. It’s bankrupt morally, defensively and economically.

Don’t believe us? Listen instead to former President Ronald Reagan — the man repeatedly held up as Republicans’ most vaunted saint.

According to a 2004 analysis by the Baltimore Sun, between 1980 and 1985, Reagan more than doubled the number of dollars devoted to defense each year, from $142.6 billion to $286.8 billion, in order to fight a Soviet enemy that had never directly attacked the United States. He also advocated for spending a minimum of 0.6% of the U.S. gross domestic product on aid to foreign countries. That’s three times what we’ve sent to Ukraine in 2022 and double what we sent to all countries combined pre-pandemic.

This disconnect between messaging and reality is at the heart of what makes Republican politics so frustrating right now. GOP politicians engage in false claims about what appears good for Americans in the short term, when in reality their policies would cripple the nation in the long term.

We’re not questioning that many Americans in many communities across the country are struggling. Economic insecurity is real, and it leads to existential threats like housing and food insecurity. We should be doing more to help Americans who are struggling.

Democratic lawmakers have advocated for free school lunch, increasing affordable housing, funding robust public K-12 education, increasing rural access to higher education and trade schools, and ensuring everyone has access to essential health care. Yet these are the exact policies that “America First” Republican legislators keep fighting against.

It’s also worth noting that the blanket 25% tariff on Chinese goods passed by former President Donald Trump and the GOP is contributing to raising prices and fueling inflation, because companies simply pass those costs on to American consumers. Compare this with President Joe Biden’s highly targeted approach to the Chinese tech industry, which had more devastating results for China without passing along price increases to American consumers.

Meanwhile, GOP leaders communicate to Russia’s Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that U.S. resolve can be overcome by doing nothing more than raising costs for six months. They tell our allies that the U.S. will only have their back against a foreign invader if it’s cheap and convenient to do so. And they tell the American people that it is somehow Democrats’ fault that Republicans voted to kill legislation that helps working-class Americans while supporting bills that use taxpayer dollars to line the pockets of corporate executives.

But maybe that’s the point. If you view the American people as nothing more than a tool for hoarding wealth and resources, then maybe Republican policies do put America first and are making America great again. First at promoting economic inequality and great at helping the rich get richer at everybody else’s expense.

It’s too bad for McCarthy and the Republican Party that they’re playing right into Putin’s hands. And in the long run, they’re putting the ambitions of Russia and China ahead of the safety, security and needs of Americans.