House Majority Leader says ‘we’re at war’ with Russia, White House claims US has a ‘stake’ in conflict

Biden’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki didn’t deny it when asked about it later in the day, and instead pointed to how the United States clearly has a stake in the conflict and wants Ukraine to beat Putin.

There were several occasions where Hoyer referred to European countries needing help with energy supplies because "we’re at war" with Russia.

The context of the clip is that Rep. Hoyer was fending off GOP criticisms of Biden’s stringent domestic energy production policies.

"I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that at a time of war, that we spend all the time blaming our own president. It is unfortunate that when the Europeans put themselves, over the objections of numerous administrations, in a place where they had dependence on Russia. Russia has no leverage over us, we don’t need Russia for energy. As a matter of fact, we voted overwhelmingly: stop buying any petroleum products from Russia, which I supported strongly," he said.

Later that day, Philip Wegmann of RealClearPolitics asked Psaki for the Biden administration to comment on what Hoyer meant.

"It’s not the White House’s belief that we’re at war, or are engaged in any kind of conflict?"

Psaki's response: "I did not see the full context of his comments. What I’m betting he was referring to, was the war happening in Ukraine with Russia that obviously the US has a stake in, given the amount of military, humanitarian, and economic assistance we have provided, and I’ve said before – of course the Ukrainians deserve the greatest accolades for their bravery and their courage. But the American people also deserve a lot of gratitude for their sacrifices and their support of this war."

While the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted in favor of a $40 billion military and humanitarian aid package to Ukraine on Tuesday night, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed it in the Senate on Thursday evening. He refused to approve the aid package if it doesn’t have an inspector general overseeing where the money is going, bringing what was hoped to be a quick process to a halt.

Biden’s critics stateside are saying that sending $40 billion in aid is a significant enough display that it might cause tensions with Moscow to escalate into nuclear warfare. In addition, others have noted that $40 billion would help solve domestic issues like supply shortages of baby formula.

Hoyer’s comments about energy were made on the same day that Russia announced they'd be cutting off electricity delivery to Finland, effective by May 14th. Helsinki officials have promised their country’s denizens that there’d be no blackouts, as Finland can import from Sweden to fill in that deficit.