Thune Says Most Republicans Disagree with DeSantis’ Comments on Ukraine

(AmericanProsperity.com) – South Dakota Senate Republican Whip John Thune said during a Wednesday Republican leadership press conference that most Senate Republicans disagree with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ comments on Ukraine, who said earlier this week that supporting this nation in its war against Russia is not a “vital” interest for the United States.

In front of reporters, Thune said that while there are many opinions in the Republican Party about the country’s involvement in Ukraine, the strongest one among GOP Senators was that the United States has a major national security interest in stopping Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Thune is one of the many GOP Senators who decided to distance themselves from the Florida Governor’s remarks, where he minimized the Russian invasion as a simple “territorial dispute.”

In addition to Thune, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio also criticized DeSantis’ comments during an interview with The Hill, claiming that the United States’s credibility as the stronger player in the geopolitical table will crumble if it stops supporting Ukrainian’s resistance against Putin’s invasion. Rubio also explained that the Florida Governor was wrong in characterizing the invasion as a “territorial dispute,” adding that what is happening in Ukraine is one of the biggest US concerns at this moment, especially because if it fails on this matter, it will be seen as an “unreliable” world power.

Republican Senators Rocker Wicker from Missouri and Lindsey Graham from South Carolina also criticized DeSantis, claiming that a lack of interest in this war is a lack of interest in war crimes, and that Putin will keep expanding across Europe if the United States fails to properly support Ukraine and he eventually manages to win the war against it.

On Monday, a Gallup poll revealed that 62 percent of Republican respondents believe that the Russian invasion of Ukraine represents a serious threat to vital American interests, in comparison with 58 percent of Democrat respondents.