Ron DeSantis Faces Backlash After Saying US Aid for Ukraine is Not 'Priority'

Like Former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that helping Ukraine is not a "vital" priority for the United States.

Several prominent Republican senators on Tuesday pushed back against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' recent remarks that US assistance for Ukraine is not a "vital" national interest, indicating a significant intraparty rift ahead of the 2024 election.

DeSantis, who has not yet declared his presidential candidacy, responded to a questionnaire from Fox News' Tucker Carlson on Monday by saying, "While the United States has many vital national interests, becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.

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The remarks place DeSantis closer ideologically to former President Donald Trump, the most prominent candidate in the 2024 Republican primary, and at odds with the more traditional GOP positioning of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has already entered the race, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who is widely expected to.

Trump and DeSantis topped the prospective GOP field in a Tuesday CNN poll of Republicans and independents leaning Republican. Sen. John Cornyn said that he was "sort of astonished" by DeSantis's stance and that it "raises problems."

Senator Marco Rubio refuted DeSantis' depiction of the battle as a "territorial dispute" on the Hugh Hewitt radio program. When asked about DeSantis' statement that supporting Ukraine is not in the United States' best interest, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee pushed back.

Haley, who, like Trump, declared an early candidacy for the GOP nomination, issued her most critical remarks against DeSantis on Tuesday, suggesting that he was "copying" Trump's stance on Ukraine. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a strong supporter of the US sending military assistance to Ukraine, tweeted the next day in response to DeSantis' incendiary remarks: "When it comes to Putin, you either pay now or pay later."

Per NY Post, the Republican senator continued that enabling Russian President Vladimir Putin to succeed in conquering the European country "invites aggression by China against Taiwan." DeSantis has urged the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. RealClearPolitics says that DeSantis is behind Trump, 76, by 45% in early 2024 surveys and receiving an average of 29% support.

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The expected Republican presidential nominee had not previously discussed the conflict in Ukraine in-depth. He refused to sell Florida's holdings in Russian firms while simultaneously making fun of France for allegedly lacking the guts to confront Russia.

His remarks align him with the GOP's MAGA wing and former President Donald Trump, who praised Putin as a "genius" for executing the disastrous attack on his neighbor. Without going into detail, Trump claims he could have stopped the war in a day and stopped Putin from invading.

DeSantis, a former traditional foreign policy hawk, has reversed course with this statement. According to NY Daily News, DeSantis vehemently criticized President Barack Obama as a lawmaker for failing to support Ukraine militarily when Russia annexed Crimea.

DeSantis has staked out several extreme right-wing stances, particularly on domestic issues like abortion, guns, and diversity. These appear to be laying the framework for a GOP primary struggle against Trump. While they have also found ways to attack Biden's policies, most other Republican presidential contenders and potential candidates, like Haley and Pence, have sided firmly with Ukraine.