What the U.S. Presidential Campaign Means for Ukraine
Greetings from 34,000 feet.
I’m two hours into a 31 hour journey to Brisbane, Australia, where I’m headlining the Something Digital Festival, then embarking on a speaking tour up and down the east coast with the one and only Van Badham: Guardian columnist, playwright, activist, author of QAnon and On, and my friend.
(You may remember Van from How to Be a Woman Online, where she is quoted at length about dealing with trolls. If the term “engagement boner”—when an annoying social media user, usually a man, believes he is entitled to your time, attention, and audience, and gets off on your interaction with them—stuck with you, you have Van to thank.)
We’ll also be speaking in Canberra and Melbourne, and if any of you happen to live in those cities, I hope you’ll come check us out!
What Dall-E thinks "Americans celebrating Ukrianian Independence Day" looks like.
What Kamala Harris’s DNC Speech Means for Ukraine
I’m writing this on August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day. I was last in Ukraine in November 2023, when Congressional Republicans were beginning to undermine the country’s defense against Russia by refusing to sign off on a border bill that included a significant military aid package. As dangerous as withholding aid was, this move also telegraphed to the Kremlin that the strong Western support Ukraine had enjoyed for the nearly two years since the full-scale invasion was fraying. It was not a coincidence that missile and drone attacks picked up significantly as Congress squabbled.
After months of delay, that aid package was finally passed in April. On August 6, Ukraine launched a surprise counter-invasion in Russia’s Kursk region; the head of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claims Ukraine now controls 490 square miles of Russian territory. (According to the Institute for the Study of War, this is more territory than Russia has seized within Ukraine from January to July.) The Kremlin is downplaying the invasion, which speaks volumes. It’s not quite a Swan Lake moment, but neither does Moscow’s relative inaction evoke a confident and competent administration.
On this backdrop, it was heartening to hear Vice President Kamala Harris voice unequivocal support for Ukraine in her remarks accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for the presidency this week. She said:
I will make sure [...] that we strengthen—not abdicate—our global leadership. Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Putin to invade our allies. Said Russia could—quote—“do whatever the hell they want.”
Five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade. I helped mobilize a global response—over 50 countries—to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies.
[...]And I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim-Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump. Because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable—because he wants to be an autocrat.
As President, I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand—and where the United States of America belongs.
For Kyiv, there is no question that a Harris administration is the preferred outcome in the election; it would fight for and stand by Ukraine, while a Trump administration, in the words of Republican VP pick Senator JD Vance, wouldn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other.”
Like the Republican politicization of aid to Ukraine, pronouncements like Vance’s are a gift to Putin and autocrats around the world. This isn’t a new argument, but it’s one that seems to have not entered the Republican consciousness yet, despite the party’s invocations of American greatness. What autocrats hear in Vance’s rhetoric is that America is weak and only stands by its allies when convenient. They know if America chooses not to defend democracy and sovereignty in Ukraine, it won’t stand up for it in Taiwan, and that an American administration that makes those choices will be easy to influence whenever necessary.
Ironically, Trump recently said that world leaders would treat Vice President Harris like a “play toy.” It was another one of his predictable, misogynist, racist rants, but if he manages to win the presidency, Trump will be the one who gets played, with U.S. allies left to their fates like chips in a table game.
Ukrainians have always understood that. They clearly saw Trump as a threat to democracy and freedom. On November 9, 2016, the day after the U.S. election, as I walked through a frigid, rainy Kyiv, I overheard an older woman chattering away to a friend on her flip phone. “They’ve sold Ukraine to the highest bidder,” she said.
Her vision is one I hope we don’t have to entertain again. On this, Ukraine’s Independence Day, I am instead celebrating that Kamala Harris understands Ukraine’s struggle is so closely intertwined with who we are as Americans and what we stand for: “Freedom. Opportunity. Compassion. Dignity. Fairness.” And the duty to “uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American,” she said. “Let’s get out there and fight for it.”
Or, as Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchecnko wrote: “Борiтися-Поборете.” Fight—and win.