White House says Zelensky visit to Pennsylvania was Ukraine's idea and calls on GOP to drop "political stunt"

 Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky’s trip last weekend to a munitions plant in Pennsylvania came about following a request from the Ukrainians to visit the facility, the White House said Thursday amid Republican accusations of political interference.

The US military transport provided Zelensky is on par with previous requests by foreign officials, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, and pointed to Zelensky’s visit in July to Utah as an example of a previous visit to a red state.

“This was business as usual for a Ukrainian request during wartime,” she said. “And so I would encourage, we would encourage the House Republicans to drop this. This is a political stunt. They need to drop this.”

Some House Republicans have accused Zelensky in participating in a political interference by visiting the critical battleground of Pennsylvania in the lead-up to November’s election. House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for Zelensky to dismiss his ambassador to Washington for her role in orchestrating the visit.

Jean-Pierre said there was nothing out of the ordinary about the stop, which she said highlighted American support for Ukraine.

She said Zelensky’s position as a target of Russia further illustrated a need for military support on the trip.