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Half Of Republicans Believe U.S. Sends Too Much Support To Ukraine, Poll Suggests

Topline

Nearly half of Republicans think the U.S. is sending too much support to Ukraine as it battles Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll from the Wall Street Journal, a figure that has jumped in recent months, as some key GOP lawmakers threaten to cut back on U.S. aid to Ukraine.

Key Facts

Roughly 30% of all voters think the U.S. is doing too much to support Ukraine, up from 6% in a March poll from the Journal, according to the new survey, which was conducted among 1,500 voters from October 22 to 26 (the outlet did not share the exact percentage of Democrats in opposition).

Republican opposition to U.S. aid to Ukraine is up from 27% of GOP voters who said the U.S. was too involved in May, according to a Morning Consult poll, more than double the 13% of Republicans who said the U.S. was doing too much to help Ukraine in March, just weeks after Russia’s invasion began.

The share of GOP voters who said the U.S. hasn’t taken enough actions to aid Ukraine also fell from 61% in March to 17%, according to Journal polling.

The poll comes two weeks after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested that the GOP would be less willing to help Ukraine if it takes control of the House, saying “people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine."

Contra

More than half of voters surveyed (57%) said they support sending more aid to Ukraine, while 37% said they were against it. Some 81% of Democrats were in favor, while only 35% of Republicans and 45% of independents supported additional aid.

Big Number

$17.6 billion. That’s how much in security assistance the U.S. has provided to Ukraine since the war began on February 24, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Key Background

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and its allies took a series of actions to boost their support to the embattled country, including by imposing sanctions on Russia to put pressure on the Kremlin as well as sending military and financial assistance to Ukraine. Europe— which has been heavily reliant on Russian gas—has pledged to make cuts to energy imports from Moscow, while the U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials as well as banned imports of Russian technologies, oil and gas. But recent polling suggests support for these measures is fading: About 40% of U.S. voters believe the government should impose sanctions on Russian exports of oil and natural gas, a record low since Morning Consult began tracking the issue. Polling from Morning Consult also shows a higher share of Republicans object to U.S. aid to Ukraine compared to Democrats.

Further Reading

Republican Opposition to Helping Ukraine Grows, WSJ Poll Finds (Wall Street Journal)

Small But Growing Share Of GOP Voters Think U.S. Is Doing ‘Too Much’ To Aid Ukraine (Forbes)

Ukraine aid under threat in Republican-controlled House (Axios)

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