We may be seeing the ‘Gaetz Effect’ at work.
A recent poll showed that Republicans specifically, and Americans generally, increasingly believe the Biden administration is offering “too much” military support for Ukraine — a country known for shady companies that employed President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, under dubious circumstances.
The Pew Research Center’s recent study found in March 2022 that among all Americans, those who said the U.S. was providing “too much” military aid to Ukraine was just 7%.
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But by January 2023, that number had nearly quadrupled to 26%.
The shift was even more dramatic among Republicans and independents who lean Republican, CNSNews noted.
In March 2022, just 9% of that group believed Biden was being too generous with U.S. military support. As of January, that had spiked to 40%.
In its poll, Pew noted, “There has also been an increase in the share of Democrats who say the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine.”
While only 15% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents agree with that statement, that is triple the ratio from a year ago.
Biden is also losing the argument on how big a threat the war in Ukraine poses to U.S. security.
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Pew reported that last March, roughly 50% of both Democrats and Republicans believed that Russia’s invasion of its neighbor presented a “major threat” to America.
As of January, just 43% of Democrats still felt that way, while only 29% of GOP respondents did.
While he has yet to convince a majority of Congress, or even his own party to go along, the Pew poll seems to reflect that Florida Republican rep. Matt Gaetz is affecting the debate over U.S. military spending in Ukraine.
The Fort Walton Beach Republican has opposed America’s intervention in the war from the start.
For instance, according to Northwest Florida Daily News, Gaetz told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2022, “Joe Biden, and even some who have taken this stage, say defending freedom in Ukraine has costs for America. Why should Americans have to pay the costs for freedom elsewhere when our own leaders won’t stand up for our freedom here?”
“We still have pain from Afghanistan misadventures we have to deal with,” Gaetz added at the time. “I’m not for sending Americans to Ukraine.”
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He has since been the most vocal opponent of the continuing U.S. military aid and intervention on Ukraine’s behalf.
In February, Gaetz introduced the Ukraine Fatigue Resolution, which called for an end to all American military and financial aid in Ukraine. It has yet to come up for a vote.
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