Government leaders again tell taxpayers Ukraine is ‘number one priority’

Federal lawmakers are again assuring American taxpayers that providing assistance to Ukraine is the country’s top priority as they prepare to hand Ukraine another $45 billion in aid. 

“Providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians — that’s the number one priority for the United States right now, according to most Republicans,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Tuesday. “That’s how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment.” 

The $45 billion aid package would bring the total amount of US foreign aid to Ukraine to $113 billion in less than a year, proportionally matching America’s own 20-year offensive in Afghanistan. 

McConnell also announced in May amid a decision to award Ukraine $40 billion that everyone agrees the war in Ukraine is “the most important thing in the world.” The remarks came as the US was facing a baby formula shortage. 

“I think we all agree the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine,” McConnell told reporters at a press conference. “I had a chance to call the president last week and request that the Ukraine package move by itself and quickly. He said, let me think it over. He called back in about 15 minutes and agreed that we need to do this for Ukraine only, and quickly.” 

However, McConnell’s claim that “most Republicans” agree on Ukraine being the “number one priority” is disputable. A Navigator Research poll in November shows that only 14% of Republicans consider the war in Ukraine an important issue, resulting in only 11% of Americans overall. 

According to another poll in March by NPR/IPSOS, “when forced to choose between giving Ukraine all the support it wants, even if it risks wider conflict between Russia and the United States (17%) and giving Ukraine some, but not all, of the support it wants to avoid a larger military conflict between Russia and the United States (62%), Americans are over three times more likely to choose the latter.”