Abandoning Ukraine won’t fix Republicans’ midterm problems 

Control of the House and Senate is rapidly slipping out of grasp for the Republican Party in the November midterm elections. With rising fuel costs at the top of voters’ minds, President Trump has committed to a questionable last resort: scapegoating Ukraine. 

Most economists agree that the war with Iran is the primary culprit for skyrocketing energy prices. Republican candidates in competitive races have broken with the president to call for the war to end, citing consumer stress at the gas pump.

However, that hasn’t stopped administration officials from attempting to shift blame from themselves to Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent began promoting the narrative in early September, blaming Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure for the global energy shock. Last week, Trump repeated the same talking point on Truth Social: “What’s driving up gasoline is no longer the Strait of Hormuz, because Record Numbers of Barrels are coming out now on an almost daily basis, but the word, ‘Refineries,’ where Russia’s are being blown up by Ukraine.”

Trump then announced a deal with Russia that would include the immediate supply of 300,000 tons of diesel to the U.S. and global markets — a paltry figure that measures less than the daily consumption of the U.S. transport........

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