A group of Republicans led by neoconservative Bill Kristol have launched a campaign to rally GOP support for President Biden’s new request for an additional $24 billion in spending on the war in Ukraine.
The organization, Defending Democracy Together, launched “Republicans for Ukraine,” a $2 million project that will begin airing ads calling for GOP support for Ukraine on Tuesday.
The ads are expected to run through the end of the year and will air on Fox News during the first Republican presidential debate next week. According to The Washington Post, the group has gathered testimony from more than 50 pro-Ukraine Republican voters for the ads.
News of the campaign comes after a CNN poll found that 55% of Americans are opposed to Congress authorizing more spending on the Ukraine war. The poll found that the opposition was mainly from the GOP, with 71% of Republican respondents opposing more Ukraine aid.
Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist who co-founded Defending Democracy Together with Kristol in 2019, complained to the Post about the Republican opposition to intervention in Ukraine. “It was alarming in the focus groups to see so many Republican voters talk about Ukraine or [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky in disparaging terms,” she said.
Kristol, best known for his role in pushing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is a staunch supporter of the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine (watch Antiwar.com Editorial Director Scott Horton debate Kristol on US interventionism).
The $24 billion President Biden has requested in new spending on the war includes $13 billion in military aid, $7.3 billion in economic and humanitarian assistance, and $3.3 billion for infrastructure projects for regional countries impacted by the conflict. The $24 billion is part of a $40 billion bill that also includes funds for domestic disaster relief and border security.
Source: AntiWar.
