A majority of Republicans called Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine a \u201ccritical threat\u201d to US interests in the weeks before Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said the conflict was not a matter of \u201cvital national interest,\u201d a new Gallup poll has found.
The venerable survey company found that 62% of registered Republicans said the year-old invasion by Moscow \u201crepresents a critical threat to US vital interests\u201d \u2014 the highest proportion of any political affiliation, as just 58% of Democrats and 51% of independents agreed with the statement.
However, those numbers are down among Republicans and Democrats from their highest levels at the start of the war in February 2022, when 72% and 64% backed that statement, respectively.
DeSantis set off an internal debate among Republicans about US support for the Kyiv government on Monday, when he told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in response to a written questionnaire: \u201cWhile the US has many vital national interests \u2014 securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party \u2014 becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.\u201d
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The poll released Monday found just 9% of Republicans said the Russia-Ukraine war was \u201cnot an important threat at all\u201d to American interests, compared to 8% of independents and 5% of Democrats.
Another 29% of Republicans said the conflict was an \u201cimportant but not critical threat,\u201d compared with 40% of independents and 37% of Democrats.
DeSantis, 44, is expected to launch his 2024 presidential campaign later this year. He received a preemptive endorsement Wednesday from staunch conservative Rep. Chip Roy
\u201cThe next President of the United States must be a vibrant and energetic leader with the faith, vision and courage to chart a new course,\u201d Roy said in a statement.
\u201cAmerica needs a leader who will truly defend her and empower the people against the destructive force of unrestrained government and corporate excess, profligate spending, and woke cultural indoctrination,\u201d he added.
\u201cThat leader is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.\u201d
But other members of the Republican Party have criticized DeSantis for his Ukraine statement.
\u201c[The war is] not a territorial dispute in the sense that any more than it would be a territorial dispute if the United States decided that it wanted to invade Canada or take over the Bahamas,\u201d Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told radio host Hugh Hewitt.
\u201cJust because someone claims something doesn\u2019t mean it belongs to them.\u201d
Fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina argued that if the West allows Putin to win, it will bring \u201cmore conflict.\u201d
\u201cWhen it comes to Putin, you either pay now or pay later,\u201d Graham, 67, tweeted.
\u201cGiving in to Putin in Ukraine, in terms of American national security interests, is Biden\u2019s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan on steroids.\u201d
GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley claimed DeSantis was attempting to copy former President Donald Trump.
\u201cAmerica is far better off with a Ukrainian victory than a Russian victory,\u201d the 51-year-old former South Carolina governor and US ambassador to the United Nations said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n