After voting against Russian oil ban, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy now says he's helping Ukraine's orphans

Less than a month after voting against a U.S. ban on Russian oil imports in retaliation for that country's brutal invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, issued a news release trumpeting his leadership in "advocating for Ukrainian orphans."

In the release, shared Monday, Roy — whose district includes part of San Antonio — announced that he'd joined 39 other Republicans in sending a letter to the Biden White House asking it to do more to help families adopt Ukrainian orphans.

"We believe the State Department can do more to urge or aid the Ukrainian application process to continue, especially for cases close to finalization," the GOP lawmakers noted in the letter, which was long on questions but short on specifics about how the department could expedite its processes.

Roy's concern for the children of Ukraine may come as a surprise after he made headlines earlier this month by bucking an overwhelmingly bipartisan 414-17 House vote to slam the door on Russian oil imports.

“What good does it do to ban Russian oil if you’re going to go buy it from Venezuela or Iran?” Roy argued on the House floor. However, citing federal data, the Dallas Morning News pointed out that the U.S. imports no oil from Venezuela and only bought 1,000 barrels from Iran last year.

The House vote took place March 9, days after Roy drew double takes by appearing to downplay the brutality of Russia's invasion during a Fox News appearance, claiming he was more worried about the horrors of federal pandemic mandates.

"We are looking at [Ukraine] and we're talking about war crimes," Roy told Fox host Will Cain. "I want to talk about the crimes against humanity that have been perpetrated by Anthony Fauci..."

Of course, to those who have spent time unpacking Roy's political brand, the contradictory stands should come as little surprise. During his two House terms, Roy has shown that he's more concerned with being a provocateur than a lawmaker.

To that end, his earlier stances on Ukraine appear to be driven by the notion that if Russian sanctions or taking the invasion seriously are what Biden administration wants, he's dead-set against 'em. Meanwhile, if he can sign onto a letter making it appear the White House isn't doing enough to help orphans ... bonus!

After all, Roy is the same politico who was captured on video last summer telling a meeting hosted by Patriot Voices that he wants “18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done” in Washington as the GOP vies to flip Congress.

“I don’t vote for anything in the House of Representatives right now,” Roy added.

Explains so much, doesn't it?

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