J.D. Vance Home State Newspaper Compares Him to Putin

Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance has been mocked as a "Bad Santa" and compared to Russian President Vladimir Putin in an editorial cartoon published by a news outlet in his home state.

Vance, who has opposed sending more aid to Ukraine as its war with invading Russian forces continues, reportedly walked out early from a Washington, D.C., meeting in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attempted to convince GOP senators to back more aid on Tuesday morning.

Political cartoonist Jeff Darcy made light of the incident in a cartoon published by Cleveland.com on Wednesday. The image shows Vance dressed as Santa Claus with a "Trump/Vance 2024" button as Zelensky, depicted as an elf, is shown sitting on his knee while carrying a wish list of "Putin-free Ukraine, U.S. aid" and "peace on earth."

"Opposing more aid to Ukraine, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) marched out early from a Senate meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky Tuesday like a Bad Santa and Putin marching Russian troops into Ukraine expecting to conquer it in 3 days," Darcy writes in a caption accompanying the cartoon.

"Senator Vance's snub of Zelensky is another reason Putin would be happy to endorse a Trump-Vance 2024 ticket and administration," he continues. "The freshman Senator from southern Ohio has now been tagged as a potential Trump running mate or cabinet member, not cell mate."

Newsweek reached out for comment to Vance's office via email on Thursday.

Vance has been floated as a potential running mate to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. The Hillbilly Elegy author was once highly critical of the former president, at one point expressing concerns that he could be "America's Hitler" before the 2016 election.

Since launching his political career, Vance has become one of Trump's staunchest GOP Senate allies. He has also become one of the leading Republican voices opposing continued U.S. aid for Ukraine while suggesting this week that Ukraine should relinquish some of its territory to Russia to end the war.

Vance is far from the only Republican to oppose additional aid to Ukraine. GOP Senator John Cornyn of Texas told CNN that Zelensky may not have "moved the needle at all" following his Washington, D.C., visit on Tuesday.

A $110 billion bill requested by President Joe Biden, which includes around $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, has been blocked in Congress by Republicans over demands for U.S.-Mexico border security measures.

The State Department announced the release of a far smaller $200 million aid package using previously approved funds on Tuesday while noting that it "will be one of the last security assistance packages we will be able to provide Ukraine" if Congress does not approve new funding.