In response to President Donald Trump blaming Ukraine for the war which was prompted by Russia invading Ukraine in 2022, and calling Ukrainian president Zelensky a “dictator,” conservative historian Niall Ferguson shared a 1990 quote by President George H.W. Bush: “This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.”
The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait began in August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War.
Ferguson added: “Future history students will be asked why this stopped being the reaction of a Republican president to the invasion of a sovereign state by a dictator.”
"This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait."–George H.W. Bush on August 5, 1990. Full quote from Jon Meacham's biography. Future history students will be asked why this stopped being the reaction of a Republican president to the invasion of a… pic.twitter.com/PuaztoiVaG
— Niall Ferguson (@nfergus) February 20, 2025
Vice President JD Vance responded to Ferguson on X by writing: “This is moralistic garbage, which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of the globalists because they have nothing else to say.”
Vance repeated his claim that the Russian-Ukrainian war wouldn’t have started if President Trump was in office. (Note: Many believe the war started on February 20, 2014, when Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine.)
Vance also criticized Ferguson quoting Bush “from a different historical period and a different conflict. That’s another currency of these people: reliance on irrelevant history.”
Shashank Joshi, defense editor at The Economist, pulled out one of Vance’s quotes from the long post (‘Russians have a massive numerical advantage in manpower and weapons in Ukraine, and that advantage will persist regardless of further Western aid packages’) and replied: “This is [expletive].”
If Vance had been around in 1776 he might have argued that the American Revolution was a lost cause, because of course the British would always be mightier. This is Ukraine’s war of independence. They have a huge advantage over Russia; they are fighting for their survival. https://t.co/LzPr7TK40b
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) February 21, 2025
Vance replied to Joshi: “Behind the tough guy language, there is no argument here. What’s the firepower advantage of the respective parties to the conflict? Manpower? How might that change with further NATO action, and how are you proposing to change it? As it turns out, I’m right and Joshi is wrong, though maybe he believes the underlying dynamics *could* change in the future. He’s welcome to make that argument.”
Josh Rogin of The Washington Post, jumped into the argument and wrote; “If Vance had been around in 1776 he might have argued that the American Revolution was a lost cause, because of course the British would always be mightier. This is Ukraine’s war of independence. They have a huge advantage over Russia; they are fighting for their survival.”
Outside of the professional political pundit arena, some Trump voters are sharing their opinions of Trump’s new claims against Zelensky (including that he’s not popular) including Adam Lowisz who replied to Vance: “I voted for Trump. Zelensky might not be perfect, but he doesn’t have a 4% approval rating. That’s just absurd. Ukraine isn’t responsible for starting the war. That’s also absurd. Putin is the aggressor like Hitler was the aggressor, 90% of our criticism needs to be on him.”
I voted for Trump. Zelensky might not be perfect, but he doesn't have a 4% approval rating. That's just absurd. Ukraine isn't responsible for starting the war. That's also absurd. Putin is the aggressor like Hitler was the aggressor, 90% of our criticism needs to be on him.
— Adam Lowisz 🇺🇸🇵🇱🇪🇺🇬🇧🇺🇦 (@AdamLowisz) February 21, 2025
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