The shipment of weapons to Ukraine is one of the issues that most divides Republicans in Congress, especially in the House of Representatives. Indeed, it was one of the main points that angered the group of conservatives led by Matt Gaetz, leading to the impeachment motion that ousted Kevin McCarthy. In the current political climate, a new poll found that aid to Ukraine is increasingly unpopular in the United States.
The poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos was administered to 1,005 adults, and the results were published on Thursday. According to the findings, 41% of respondents favor the United States helping Volodomir Zelensky's government, contrasting with 63% who responded affirmatively in June, marking a drop of more than twenty points.
Indeed, this steep dip in support is not tied to any one political party. Support among Democrats went from 82% in June to 51% in October, while Republican support at the same time plummeted from 56% to 35%. As for Independents, the 57% who agreed in June dropped to 44% this month.
To avoid a government shutdown, Congress passed a continuing resolution on Saturday that extended the deadline to Nov. 17 and excluded extra funding for Ukraine. However, it is expected that separate legislation will be attempted at a later date in order to include additional funding.
The issue was central in the first two Republican debates between the presidential candidates. Vivek Ramaswamy was the most critical candidate of the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, which caused him to clash with Nikki Haley and Mike Pence on several occasions.
For example, the businessman assured that the fact that Vladimir Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that "Ukraine is a good country," to which Haley interrupted him by shouting, "A victory for Putin is a victory for China." Pence then added that, "A Russian victory gives China the green light to invade Taiwan."
