U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz confirmed today that he and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will push their Republican colleagues to stop sending billions of dollars to Ukraine if Republicans win in November, writing that it is not part of his America First agenda.
The exchange happened after Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallago, of Phoenix, Arizona, claimed that Republican leadership will be unable to constrain Gaetz and Greene should Republicans retake the U.S. House.
“Fact is if the Republicans take over the House in 2022,” wrote Gallego, “support for Ukraine will come to a halt.” He added that “They will not be able to stop [Greene] & [Gaetz] from dictating our Ukraine police.”
Gaetz confirmed the Democrat’s analysis, writing “America First. We aren’t kidding.”
America First. We aren’t kidding. https://t.co/9Zo1ed9at5
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) July 1, 2022
Greene, meanwhile, recently released a campaign advertisement decrying the World Economic Forum and Ukraine war hawks within her own party.
“For decades the Washington establishment created globalist policies to move America into the global economy led by Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum,” Greene noted in a voiceover. “And now the warhawks, globalist elites, and neocons are beating the drums of war.”
Republican support for sending billions of dollars to Ukraine has wavered amid economic crises at home, and the decision from Joe Biden and Congress to send the country a total of $54 billion while facing record high gas prices, runaway inflation, and supply chain difficulties has been leveraged against Democrats.
Perhaps indicating a crack is already forming in the consensus, 57 of the 435 members of the U.S. House – all Republican – voted against the most recent military aid package of $40 billion. They were joined by 11 Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
Experts have already noted that support for sending endless billions to Ukraine in an effort to help it repel Russia’s “special military operation” may already be fading.
Protesters march against the Ukraine conflict in Germany (Renate / Flickr)
Last month the BBC criticized the Biden administration for sending “mixed signals” on its commitment to Ukraine, noting that Joe Biden will often make wild statement – calling for regime change in Russia, calling Putin a war criminal, threatening to attack Russia with a chemical weapon, telling U.S. troops stationed in Poland that they were headed to Ukraine – only to have the White House or State Department correct him.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines suggested that Americans turning against the billions in Ukraine spending may help Putin secure victory in Ukraine.
“He [Putin] is probably counting on US and EU resolve to weaken,” she told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to the BBC, “as food shortages, inflation and energy prices get worse.”
The Biden administration, meanwhile, maintains that record high gas prices, potentially record-breaking inflation, and a sluggish economy are merely the price to pay for pushing back against Russia and preserving something called the “liberal world order.”
Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year following a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region in eastern Ukraine. Moscow claims it launched a “special military operation” to denazify the country, enshrine its neutrality, and protect ethnic Russians from Ukrainian state violence. Kiev and its allies maintain the invasion was unprovoked.
