Hannity’s concern for Ukrainians’ struggle for freedom against Russian aggression was not evident back in 2019 and 2020, when he and his colleagues were excusing – and even applauding – former President Donald Trump’s plot to condition military aid to that country for personal political gain.
Trump’s first impeachment revolved around his scheme to corruptly pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate his political opponent, then-future President Joe Biden. Trump worked through both administration officials and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and in a July 25, 2019, phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, he sought a quid pro quo.
When Zelensky said on the call that Ukraine wished to purchase Javelin missiles for defensive purposes, Trump replied, “I would like you to do us a favor, though,” before asking Zelensky to “look into” the conspiracy theory that Ukraine had meddled in the 2016 presidential election as well as false claims of corrupt actionsin Ukraine by Biden when he was vice president. At the time, Ukrainian officials were aware that Trump was withholding $214 million in military aid that Congress had appropriated to counter Russian aggression.
But then, few worked harder to clean up Trump’s mess after the fact – he spent September 2019 through the February 2020 Senate acquittal feverishly defending the president from every angle. While he now waxes solemnly about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he backed Trump’s attempt to condition military aid for the country on its provision of political dirt to benefit the former president’s campaign.