{"id":75085,"date":"2023-08-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/23\/conservatives-backing-ukraine-seek-to-sway-gop-debate-viewers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:37:42","slug":"conservatives-backing-ukraine-seek-to-sway-gop-debate-viewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/08\/23\/conservatives-backing-ukraine-seek-to-sway-gop-debate-viewers\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservatives backing Ukraine seek to sway GOP debate viewers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A conservative group\u2019s new advertising campaign, slated to air during the first 2024 Republican presidential primary debate, is aiming to sway GOP voters and officials to support U.S. aid for Ukraine in the country\u2019s ongoing war with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Aug. 23 on Fox News<\/a>, with the outlet\u2019s Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum picked to host.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the growing split among Americans, especially Republicans, over funding for the U.S. ally, the $2 million \u201cRepublicans for Ukraine\u201d project by the conservative nonprofit Defending Democracy Together<\/a> is hoping to shift the narrative while eyes are on the GOP candidates in their first presidential primary face off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to counter the loudest voices in the Republican party who are telling Americans, telling Republicans, that the United States needs to withdrawal its efforts in Ukraine,\u201d John Conway, the director of strategy for Republicans for Ukraine, told Military Times. \u201cWe want to remind Republican voters of the best of their traditional Republican values, which is supporting democracies across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to getting featured on billboards throughout Milwaukee, the campaign plans to run ads on cable, network TV and on YouTube<\/a> through the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. has sent more than $43 billion in aid to Ukraine<\/a> since Russia invaded in February 2022, the AP reported. President Joe Biden asked Congress earlier this month to approve<\/a> a package that includes more than $13 billion in emergency defense aid to Ukraine, the outlet also reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Aug. 22 that the administration believes that financial support to Ukraine will be sustained by a bipartisan core of lawmakers, despite \u201csome dissident voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, the Department of Defense unveiled a $200 million security package<\/a> for Ukraine that includes additional air defense munitions, artillery and tank ammunition and anti-armor weapons among other equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis particular administration has not made the argument for Ukraine,\u201d retired Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told Military Times in an interview, noting that political leaders on both sides of the aisle need to do more to educate average Americans about the need to support Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey really have no idea about all the things that Ukraine brings to this world and why it\u2019s important that we not allow a superpower or former superpower…to run over their neighbors,\u201d he said, citing, for example, the amount of grain Ukraine provides the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent CNN poll found that a majority of Americans (55%) oppose<\/a> Congress authorizing additional funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Republicans in the survey broadly said that Congress should not authorize new funding, with Democrats mostly saying the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those partisan divisions were further highlighted by another poll by the Pew Research Center, which in June found that around four-in-ten Republicans<\/a> say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the question over how the United States should respond to the conflict in Ukraine continues to fracture the Republican party, candidates seeking the GOP nomination to become the next commander in chief similarly possess a wide array of views on a preferred strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n