Former Vice President and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence defended Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian government’s crackdown on Christianity during an interview with Tucker Carlson.
Pence defended Ukraine’s crackdown on Christianity and parroted Ukrainian government claims that the churches and clergymen who’ve fallen victim to Volodymyr Zelensky’s pogroms were working with the Russians.
“The Zelensky government in Ukraine was respecting religious liberty,” Pence said. “Even while recognizing that there were very small elements of the Russian Orthodox Church that were being utilized for the purpose of advancing the Russian cause in Ukraine and that they were taking steps to hold them to account.”
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Pence used a conversation he says he had with the “leader” of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kiev to back up his claims that Zelensky’s government is “respecting religious liberty.”
St. Michael’s has been used throughout the conflict with Russia as a propaganda piece to help shape Ukraine’s image on religious issues and has hosted various NATO leaders, including Joe Biden.
“But the leader of the church at St. Michael’s in Kiev told me personally that he, he believed that the Zelensky government was respecting religious liberty,” said Pence.
Though the Zelensky-friendly St. Michael’s Cathedral claims that Ukraine’s government is respecting religious freedom, in reality, it’s cracked down on Christianity and has arrested Orthodox priests, claiming that their churches are linked to Vladimir Putin and the Russian war effort.
“It’s very clear that the Zelensky government has arrested priests for having views they disagree with. That’s not consistent with religious liberty, it’s an attack and we’re funding it,” Carlson said.
“And I’m just wondering – and I don’t mean to be disrespectful at all – but I sincerely wonder how a Christian leader (Mike Pence) could support the arrest of Christians for having different views.”
“Well, what I can tell you is that I asked the Christian leader in Kiev if that was in fact happening and he assured me that it was not, people were not being persecuted for their religious beliefs,” said Pence, with a baffled Carlson responding, “He said that no priests had been arrested!?”
Pence then closed off further discussion on the Ukrainian religious freedom issue telling Carlson that “I respect your right to your opinion on Ukraine and I trust you’ll respect mine,” prompting chuckles from some in the audience.
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Ukraine’s crackdown on Christianity has come as the US-backed Zelensky government has also attacked the free press, going as far as to throw an American citizen journalist in jail and to shut down press outlets that don’t report directly to the Ukrainian government.
Furthermore, Volodymyr Zelensky recently said in a televised news interview that Ukraine will cancel its upcoming elections, citing an ongoing state of emergency due to the war with Russia. The cancelation of Ukraine’s elections makes it impossible for the country’s citizens to drive an end to hostilities.
Watch Pence’s remarks below:
