‘Call Someone Who Cares’: Sen. Kennedy Calls Germany Out For Dragging Feet With Ukraine Funding

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy slammed Germany on Thursday for relying on the United States to provide it with its national security needs, arguing the nation drags its feet when it comes to helping Ukraine.

Kennedy has recently spoken out about Germany’s lack of support for Ukraine, saying on the Senate floor that other nations have “outspent Germany.” Now, he has argued, it is time the nation “starts … footing the bill for its own defense [which] starts with helping Ukraine.”

Fox News’ Sandra Smith brought up his recent comments on Thursday.

“Germany is not pulling its weight, you say, Senator,” Smith said. “Current spending by share of GDP would not even place Germany in top 10 nations for financial support for Ukraine. ‘Not only has Germany been slow to pull out its pocketbook, but it appears to be in no rush to send weapons, either. Before moving an inch, Germany demands the United States move a mile and so far the Biden Administration appears to be playing along.’ Ok, so, you are calling out Germany. What is the risk in doing that right now?”

“None, in my judgment. If Germany gets mad- I don’t want them to, but if they do they need to call someone who cares. I love Germany, they are dear friends, but they are not pulling their weight … We are pulling our weight in Ukraine, but Germany is not. It promised to start spending 2% of GDP on military, it hasn’t. It promised to set aside $100 billion to get its military up to snuff, it hasn’t,” Kennedy said. (RELATED: Ron DeSantis Says Ukraine War Is Not ‘Vital’ To US Interests)

“You know, what you do is what you believe and everything is just cottage cheese. The truth is, Germany is the most powerful country economically in Europe. But Germany and the other European countries are totally dependent, totally, on the United States of America for their national security.”

“All of our European friends who are not pulling their weight need to do better, but Germany is the worst in terms of doing that because the economy is so huge. It has the money, it doesn’t want to put it up. The chancellor says, ‘we are more worried about energy than we are about defense.’ Well, he needs to get a set of binoculars and go look and see what Russia is doing in Ukraine, that’s one of his neighbors,” he added.

U.S. aid to Ukraine, both humanitarian and military, has reached $200 billion, and is by far the largest batch foreign aid given to Ukraine, with the United Kingdom and Germany both having sent less than $10 billion, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

When broken down relative to each nation’s GDP, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the United States make the top five, according to CFR.

President Joe Biden recently requested an additional $7 billion in new funding for Ukraine and other European allies.