With Ukraine in the frontline of the struggle against authoritarian tyranny, Tanya Vyhovsky stresses the importance of unity and the need for Democrats to get a spine
It can be incredibly lonely right now to stand for what is right in the United States. Sitting here with all of you makes me remember that we’re never standing alone. We are, in fact, always standing together in solidarity with our brothers and sisters and loved ones across the globe. Now more than ever, it’s really critically important that we strengthen those bonds across borders, across oceans. We have to stand together against authoritarianism, against fascism, and against the terrifying global swing to the right. But more than the things we have to stand against, we need to stand together in the global struggle for a better future. A future that puts people first, that puts planet first, and that does not cater to profit and capital. A future that is not driven by oligarchs. A future that is grounded in the needs of the many rather than the few.
The 2024 election of Donald Trump was horrific but not unpredictable. The Trump-Musk election is already having damaging impacts in the US. They have created chaos, both in the US and across the globe. They are disappearing legal, Green Card-holding residents for standing up for their political beliefs. They are silencing universities, they are silencing dissonance, and that is directly in line with the Putin agenda, the fascist agenda, and the authoritarian agenda.
I have told people for years that the battle for the sovereignty and rights of Ukraine is critically important because every nation and every people deserve sovereignty and freedom. It is also, however, a battle for global democracy. Now, more than ever, with Donald Trump and Elon Musk aligning with Vladimir Putin, that is clear. Unfortunately, it is not as clear to many Americans as it should be. It is not as clear to many of my colleagues in the Senate and in the General Assembly as it should be. I am regularly told that it’s not that bad, that it cannot happen here, and I guarantee that across the globe, when authoritarian regimes have taken over, people believed it couldn’t happen here. It can and it will unless we stand together. Whether we like it or not, we are a globalised world, and that brings with it challenges, but it also brings with it strength. It brings with it the ability to remember there are more of us than there are oligarchs, than there are authoritarians. We in fact do have the ability to push back against the whims of Elon Musk, an unelected oligarch billionaire, the Donald Trumps and the Vladimir Putins, and the many other fascist authoritarian people that are rising to power.
In the 2024 Election in the US, more people did not vote than voted for either candidate, which says to me that they are so deeply disenfranchised by the government that is not working for them, that they would rather silence themselves and not vote at all than take a stand, that neither candidate coming forward gave them a message that said “we are here for you”. That is a place where the Democrats in the US continue largely to be silent, continue to not have a spine, and continue not to be the party of opposition. But it’s a pathway that I have taken, and some of my colleagues at the federal level and in other states. Every one of those people who did not vote needs a reason to vote.
These are not normal times: the Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Judiciary. This Republican Party is a cult. They are not a party that is thinking for themselves. They are not a party that even stands for the values they stood for four years ago. We have Senators Cruz and Rubio, who, four years ago, were staunchly anti-Russia, who are now sitting in meetings with President Zelenskyy, demanding that he bow down to Russia.
Again, there is movement. Just this past weekend, Senator Sanders and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez were continuing a tour through swing districts with huge attendances. Democrats need to go back to being the party of FDR and not the party that is locking children up on our borders, because Democrats did that; not the party that is gutting Medicaid, because Democrats did that. Certainly, the Trump Administration is taking it even further, but so many of the things that we, the American people, argue against when a Republican is doing it are being done by Democrats every single day, and people are sick of it. That’s why they didn’t vote. So if Democrats want to win, they need to be an opposition party.
Together, I believe we can save Ukraine, and that I will make it back there. My dad is Ukrainian, and while I have never made it to Ukraine, I do hope to be there someday soon, whether that is to support my kin and my friends, help rebuild, or simply enjoy the beauty of the Black Sea. My family is still there. I stand in solidarity with them and with all of us as we fight for a better future.
This is an edited transcript of her talk at the Brussels Solidarity with Ukraine conference, March 26-27