Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine, many American politicians have said the U.S. must fully support that country in the name of ensuring democracy does not suffer a defeat. Last year, Volodymyr Zelensky thanked members of Congress for helping defend democracy:
I am grateful to @SenSchumer, @LeaderMcConnell, and every US Senator who has supported continued assistance to Ukraine as we fight for freedom, democracy, and the values we all hold dear.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 13, 2024
For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror.…
In Ukraine, however, there's been one thing missing from that nation's "democracy," and that's the democracy part. There was supposed to be an election in Ukraine last year, but that was put on hold and now President Trump says it's time for some "democracy" in Ukraine:
President Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine should hold elections to potentially replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We have a situation where we haven’t had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine,” Trump said at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago after his US delegation finished talks with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.
I ran across a Newsweek story about this and the headline about why there are concerns about holding another election in Ukraine was a real "well, there it is" moment:
There are concerns that the Ukrainian president could be voted out of office if the country holds an election. https://t.co/7ZudoHmKZf
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 19, 2025
Basically much of the story is "we have to cancel democracy to save democracy from Putin":
Zelensky was made Time Magazine's person of the year in 2022 for his "success as a wartime leader" and has been lauded as the face of Ukrainian resistance to Russia's invasion. His exit from office could drastically change the outcome of the war and the achievement of security guarantees for Ukraine.
Ukraine hosting an election also raises the concern that Russia could interfere in the poll and install a pro-Kremlin leader who would be more amenable to Moscow's terms to end the war.
I'm reminded of the U.S. Democrats and their efforts to throw Trump in jail in order to keep him off the ballot in order to save America's "democracy."
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Yes, this can happen in an election.
— IT Guy (@ITGuy1959) February 19, 2025
It’s called democracy.
It’s allegedly what we are over there helping Ukraine fight for, though every da day you all manage to give the real game away.
Every now and then it's nice of them to say the quiet parts out loud.
Well, that’s an insane thing to say out loud.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 19, 2025
At least claim it’s a safety or logistics issue. But that Zelensky might lose? Yeah, that’s how elections work. https://t.co/fqov8tZtq5
Okay? Isn’t that up to Ukrainians and not the American left?
— DelilahM (@delilahmused) February 19, 2025
So...the MSM is now anti free and democratic elections. Got it. 🙄
— CarolinaConservative3 (@1776Carolina3) February 19, 2025
And why do you hate democracy? https://t.co/CHrqQDRdBg
— Amy Curtis 🇮🇱 (@RantyAmyCurtis) February 19, 2025
Some of the same people who support not having elections in Ukraine because Zelensky might lose call Trump a dictator because he won a free and fair election and is now implementing the policies he promised.
