Some of Donald Trump's critics have unfavorably compared the likely 2024 GOP presidential nominee to the late U.K. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, arguing that he is "appeasing" Russian President Vladimir Putin in much the same way that Chamberlain "appeased" Nazi Germany before World War 2.
Among President Joe Biden's more ardent admirers on foreign policy, the argument is that if Biden's aggressive support of Ukraine draws inspiration from Winston Churchill — who became U.K. prime minster in 1940 — Trump follows Chamberlain's "appeasement" policy.
But Rep. Jim Himes (D-Connecticut), a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, believes that comparing Trump unfavorably to Chamberlain is giving him "way too much credit."
READ MORE: Trump is sounding like the 'weird creep at the nursing home': analysis
During an early March appearance on the "One Decision Podcast," Himes stressed that Trump is much more simplistic in his thinking.
Himes told the host, Sir Richard Dearlove — who formerly headed the U.K.'s MI6 intelligence service — "They both may be undertaking an act of appeasement, but Neville Chamberlain, love him or hate him, I think probably thought this through. Donald Trump is a little bit of a single-celled organism: He responds to one stimulus and one stimulus only, which is, 'Does this make me feel good, or does it make me feel bad?' And Ukraine makes him feel bad because he got impeached over Ukraine."
The Connecticut Democrat was vehemently critical of Trump's "America First" views and stressed that from a foreign policy standpoint, he is having a terrible influence on the GOP.
Hines warned, "Two things are happening in the Republican Party. One, some people are channeling that traditional isolationism, which we've lived with in this country forever. And by the way, it's not a terrible instinct, right? There are episodes in our history where we probably should have been a bit more isolationist."
READ MORE: 'The confusion continues': Joe Scarborough shreds Trump for mistaking Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi
The congressman continued, "But then you have Donald Trump as a single-celled organism saying ‘Ukraine bad’ and his acolytes.… saying, 'The boss thinks it's bad.' And, you know, an awful lot of my colleagues just realize that if they stand up and say things contrary to what the cult leader is saying, they'll put their own careers at risk."
Biden and Trump have radically different views on Ukraine, Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
While Biden has been a scathing critic of Putin and an aggressive supporter of military aid to Ukraine, Trump has openly expressed his admiration for Putin and other authoritarians. Trump is also anti-NATO, while Biden has championed NATO's expansion and warns that NATO will suffer greatly if Trump returns to the White House in January 2025.
READ MORE: 'Person without dollars': Pelosi thinks Putin has 'something financial' on Trump