Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives on March 7, 2023, at the Capitol in Tallahassee.
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DeSantis faces GOP pushback over Ukraine comments
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is facing pushback from within his party after he said he did not believe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine necessitated deep U.S. involvement and labeled the war a “territorial dispute.”
As The Hill’s Al Weaver reports this morning, Senate Republicans are keeping their distance from DeSantis’ position over Ukraine, in which he responded to a Fox News questionnaire over Ukraine and suggested that it was not a “vital national interest” for the U.S. to become “further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia.”
Fox News’s Tucker Carlson sent the questionnaire to 11 current and potential GOP presidential candidates, including DeSantis and former President Trump – whose stances on Ukraine go against Senate Republican support for Ukraine against Russia, Al writes.
What they’re saying: “I don’t agree with [DeSantis],” the No. 5 Senate Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.) told Al. “I think this is much bigger than a territorial dispute.”
Meanwhile, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters that “there are lots of different opinions on the U.S. involvement in Ukraine,” while adding, “but I think the majority opinion among Senate Republicans is that the United States has a vital national security interest there in stopping Russian aggression, and that’s certainly the view I have.”
DeSantis’ comments come little more than a year since Russia invaded Ukraine – an international war that the U.S. has devoted billions of dollars and weaponry to in its aid to Ukraine. The Russian invasion, however, has underscored divisions within the Republican Party over how much aid and involvement the country should be undertaking for Ukraine, with some GOP members like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as some of the most vocal members of the party bristling at further U.S. involvement in the war.
However, ongoing U.S. aid to Ukraine has continued to receive bipartisan support. The Florida governor’s comments come ahead of what is expected to be a crowded – and possibly contentious – primary field of Republican challengers in the 2024 race.
Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, we’re Caroline Vakil and Julia Manchester. Each week we track the key stories you need to know to stay ahead of the 2024 election and who will set the agenda in Washington.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that he will decide on whether to make another bid for the presidency in the next 45 to 60 days. “I think running for president of the United States is an intensely personal decision. And that’s one that anybody who’s considering it should have the right to make on their own regardless of anybody else’s thoughts on it,” Christine told the Washington …
Senate Republicans are wincing over former President Trump’s early barrage of attacks against his chief rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), fearing they’re seeing a preview of a brutal primary to come that could leave both candidates weakened heading into the general election. GOP lawmakers acknowledge DeSantis needs to show he can take a punch and aren’t shocked Trump would take hard shots at a rival as …
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday blasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for saying the war between Ukraine and Russia is a “territorial dispute,” arguing that if the rising Republican “really understand(s) the issues, you probably would not make statements like that.” “When you have had the experience of meeting and understanding the significance of international rules and norms and the importance of the United States …
A new survey out this week is calling attention to the top issues that drove Black voters to the polls in last November’s midterms – and what they want to see accomplished ahead of 2024.
As The Hill’s Cheyanne Daniels writes, a survey conducted by the Future Action Fund and HIT Strategies last December and released on Wednesday found that the top issue among Black voters was inflation, with jobs following second and the economy in third.
Among some of the issues that Black voters want to see addressed by the Biden administration heading into the next presidential election, seeing gun safety legislation passed was noted by 44 percent of respondents. More than 40 percent also noted that acts of white supremacy should be recognized as domestic terrorism and that there should be a national security threat classification for white supremacy.
Heading into the next election: “Communicate in ways that center the Black experience and capture the nuances of the Black experience, use messages that are rooted in power and not fear, center Black voters and not political candidates, and create spaces that affirm Blackness and create collective joy,” LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, told Cheyanne. “These are just some of the strategies that are critical to reaching Black voters not just during election cycles, but also year-round.”
Ad Watch
Conservative group launches $5 million ad buy opposing Ohio amendment
Protect Women Ohio, a conservative, anti-abortion group, launched a $5 million ad campaign opposing an effort in the state to enshrine abortion rights into the state’s constitution.
The proposed amendment says “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”
The amendment does not reference a person’s decision to medically transition. However, opponents of the effort argue that the legislation would “cut out” parents from decisions made by their children.
“This extreme amendment eliminates any current or future protections for minors requiring parents be notified and consent before their child undergoes a procedure like an abortion or sex change surgery. Ohioans must vote ‘no’ on this dangerous proposal,” said Molly Smith, a Protect Women Ohio board member.
Sixty-two percent of registered Republicans say that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war represents a critical threat to vital U.S. interests, according to a Gallup survey conducted before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made headlines earlier this week by asserting the opposite. Another 29 percent of GOP respondents surveyed in the Gallup poll released Monday said the war is important but not a vital threat, and 9 percent said …
A survey conducted late last year, whose results were released on Wednesday, is shedding light on what Black voters’ top concerns were in the wake of the 2022 midterms and as they looked toward the 2024 presidential election. The survey, which focused on Black voters in North Carolina, Georgia and California, was conducted by Black to the Future Action Fund and HIT Strategies in December 2022. It found that economic concerns, …
Local and state headlines regarding campaigns and elections:
Meet the Wisconsin Republicanswho could challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and why 2024 could be a big year for the GOP (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
‘We have to come together’: New Rep. Juan Ciscomani sits down with The Gaggle (The Arizona Republic)
Dave Williams’ election as Colorado GOP chair has set off some Republican alarm bells. He says people should “relax.” (The Colorado Sun)
What We’re Reading
Election news we’ve flagged from other outlets:
The GOP Campaign Trail Is Already Getting DeSantis-Proofed (The Daily Beast)
In Wisconsin, Liberals Barrage Conservative Court Candidate With Attack Ads (The New York Times)
Looming Trump charges threaten to inject chaos into 2024 campaign (Axios)
The White House on Thursday said the release of video showing a Russian fighter jet dumping fuel on a U.S. drone before it went down over the Black Sea undercut Russia’s version of events. John Kirby, a White House spokesperson on national security issues, told reporters on a virtual briefing that the U.S. may never know what … Read more
Senate Republicans on Wednesday signaled growing concerns about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) stance on Ukraine after he likened Russia’s invasion of the country to a “territorial dispute” and argued becoming further involved is not a “vital” national interest for the U.S. Multiple Republicans took aim at the remarks, which came … Read more
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