Pew: Percentage of Americans, Republicans Who Oppose Military Aid to Ukraine On The Rise

(CNSNews.com) — A recent survey by the Pew Research Center found that the percentage of Americans and Republicans who oppose military aid to Ukraine is growing, with major increases in opposition to aid in January 2023 compared with the percentages from March 2022.

For instance, in March 2022, when asked if the U.S. was providing “too much” military aid to Ukraine, only 7% of American adults said yes, too much aid. But in January 2023, 26% said “too much” aid, an increase of 19 percentage points.

Among Republicans and independents who lean Republican, in March 2022 only 9% said the U.S. was providing “too much” aid to Ukraine.

However, in January 2023, 40% of those Republicans/Leaning Republican said the U.S. was providing too much support to Ukraine. Only 17% of that group said the Biden administration was providing “not enough” aid.

In addition, “There has also been an increase in the share of Democrats who say the U.S. is providing too much support to Ukraine,” reported Pew.  “Still, only 15% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents currently say this, up from 5% last March. About six-in-ten Democrats either say the U.S. is providing about the right amount of support to Ukraine (40%) or that the U.S. is not providing enough support (23%).”

As for whether Americans view the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a “major threat to U.S. interests,” 51% of Republicans/Lean Republican said yes back in March 2022.

In January 2023, however, only 29% of Republicans/Lean Republican say the conflict is a major threat to U.S. interests. That’s a decline of 22 percentage points.

“The share of Americans who see the conflict as a major threat to U.S. interests has declined in both parties since March 2022,” reported Pew.  “Today, Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to say this (29% vs. 43%).

To read the survey, click here. (Survey methodology here.) 

Commenting on the Ukraine-Russia war, former President Donald Trump, in a statement to Tucker Carlson Tonight, said opposing Russia in Ukraine is not a vital American strategic interest. He also opposed pursuing regime change in Russia.

“We should support regime change in the United States, that’s far more important,” said Trump. “The Biden administration are the ones who got us into this mess.”

Potential GOP presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) also said that further entangling the U.S. “in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” is not among America’s “many vital national interests.”

“We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted,” said the governor. 

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