Tipsheet

Here’s Why Mike Johnson Wants Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US Fired

Madeline Leesman
Madeline Leesman  |  September 26, 2024 9:30 AM

On Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that he was calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to remove Ambassador Oksana Markarova from her post.

Johnson outlined the reason why in a letter, stating that she took part in arranging an event that clearly promoted Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.

In the letter, Johnson said, “Ukrainians have tried to avoid being ‘captured by American domestic politics,’ and ‘influencing the choices of the American people’ ahead of the November election.”

“Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site,” Johnson said, adding that the site was in a battleground state and was “led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris.”

No Republicans were invited, he noted. 

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“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country,” he said. 

“After organizing a partisan campaign event in a battleground state this week, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova demonstrated she cannot be trusted to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country,” Johnson wrote on X.

“President Zelenskyy must immediately remove her,” he added.

This week, Townhall covered how Zelenskyy traveled to Pennsylvania on the taxpayer’s dime where he spent time with Democrats and criticized Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), former President Donald Trump’s running mate. On Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Assistant to the President and White House Counsel Edward Siskel seeking documents about any government resources used for the visit.