Rep. Paul Gosar ripped for tweeting ‘Russia is not our enemy’

Far-right Rep. Paul Gosar was slammed by Twitter users Monday for saying that “Ukraine is not our friend, and Russia is not our enemy” on the heels of President Biden’s first trip to the war-torn nation. 

The Arizona Republican, frustrated with the US government’s steady support of Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion, also slammed Biden for visiting Kyiv on President’s Day.

“Joe Biden visiting Ukraine is a slap in the face to every American, especially the people of East Palestine, Ohio,” Gosar tweeted on Monday, referencing the Feb. 3 train derailment that dumped toxic chemicals near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. 

“Ukraine is not our friend, and Russia is not our enemy,” Gosar added. 

In a separate tweet, Gosar lambasted “Biden’s spending priorities” that saw more than $100 billion in military and humanitarian aid go to Ukraine in 2022 alone.

“Biden’s Spending Priorities[:] Ukraine: Over $100,000,000,000 Ohio: $0 Who would you assume this Regime’s actual constituency is?” Gosar wrote. 

Biden pledged another $460 million worth of security aid to Ukraine Monday as he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an unannounced visit to the capital city ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion. 

 “One year later, Kyiv stands, Ukraine stands, Democracy stands,” Biden said after the meeting at Mariinsky Palace. “The Americans stand with you and the world stands with you.”

Gosar further accused the Biden administration of going “rogue” by funding Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army, saying that “Congress did not authorize war against Russia” or “money to support Ukraine ‘forever’ including paying Ukrainian retirement pensions.”

Several people lashed out at Gosar Monday, accusing him of being “evil” and pro-Putin. 

“Gosar is an evil s.o.b.  Not to mention sick. He does not belong in Congress. It is understandable why his family hates him. What can those who voted for him be thinking?” former Nixon White House counsel and CNN contributor John Dean wrote on Twitter Monday. 

“Wow, Gosar is an open Russian asset,” Cindy Banyai, a Democrat who lost to Republican Rep. Byron Donalds in Florida’s 19th Congressional District election last year, said in a tweet.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reappointed Gosar to his former seats on the House Natural Resources and Oversight committees last month after he was stripped of his panel assignments by Democrats in November of 2021, 10 days after tweeting a video depicting himself as an anime character assassinating progressive New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking Biden.