Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance repeatedly disparaged Ukraine and voiced his unwillingness to continue U.S. support in leaked text messages with far-right conspiracy theorist Charles Johnson, the Washington Post reported on Aug. 7.
According to the texts, which Johnson shared with the Washington Post, Vance said in October 2023, "Dude I won't even take calls from Ukraine." The exchange came as congressional Republicans began blocking an aid package for Ukraine, an impasse that continued for several months.
"Two very senior guys reached out to me. The head of their intel. The head of the Air Force. Bitching about F-16s," Vance said in the messages to Johnson.
Vance, who was selected as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's running mate in July, has been outspoken about his opposition to U.S. aid for Ukraine. He repeatedly has said that he "doesn't care about Ukraine," including just days after the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion.
In response to a request for comment about the leaked messages, Vance spokesperson Willia Martin told the Washington Post that "Johnson spam texted J.D. Vance."
"J.D. usually ignored him, but occasionally responded to push back against things he said."
The Washington Post did not say if the spokesperson refuted any of the statements that Vance had made in the texts.
The leaked exchanges covered a wide variety of topics, many of which pertained to domestic issues.
In one text conversation that Vance initiated, the vice presidential nominee "ridicule(d) the mental state of a pro-Ukraine activist," the Washington Post wrote, adding that he implied the U.S. government was "engineering popular support for Ukraine."
Chris York
