Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has sought to downplay intra-party tensions, saying on CBS Sunday that the “vast majority of the Republican Party writ large, both in Congress and across the country, are totally behind the Ukrainians and urging the president to take these steps quicker, to be bolder.”

Democrats, though, see opportunities to pounce, pointing to Trump’s long history of praise for Putin and the former President’s attempt to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to produce political ammunition targeting Hunter Biden in exchange for already congressionally approved military aid — a move that ultimately led to his first impeachment.

“The Republicans have a ton of baggage when it comes to their worship of Vladimir Putin,” said Jay Chen, a Democratic congressional candidate in California’s 45th congressional district who is a Navy Reserve intelligence officer and the son of Taiwanese immigrants.

The 45th district in Southern California is home to Little Saigon and large Vietnamese and Taiwanese populations. Chen said voters in the district are particularly empathetic for Ukrainian refugees because sizable numbers “fled that type of authoritarianism” that Putin is now imposing.