Politics

Mike Lee Feuds With Pro-Ukraine Cartoon Critters

Senate Lawmakers Address The Press After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Ilan Hulkower Contributor
Font Size:

Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee feuded with a pro-Ukraine Twitter meme account called the “North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO),” by accusing the group of ruining online polls about the conflict.

“Gotta hand it to the ‘NAFO fellas,’ who can apparently ‘ruin’ any online poll about whether Congress should blindly comply with the Pentagon’s request for an additional $100 BILLION for Ukraine,” the senator said on his Twitter account. “Remind me, how exactly is NAFO funded?” The account’s name is a play on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The group’s Twitter account posted a link to their product page in response to Lee’s question.

“We got the best propaganda money can buy,” they said. The group’s products, logos, and memes frequently feature various kinds of cartoony animal critters.

The spat was over a poll Lee put out on Sept. 20. The poll asked whether users supported Congress giving another $100 billion to Ukraine over the next 14 months. The poll ended with 52.3 percent of participants voting yes.

“This was a fascinating experiment. For the first couple of hours, the results were overwhelmingly ‘no,’ along the lines of 95-5. But within a few hours the ‘NAFO fellas’ intervened with the explicit objective of ‘ruining the poll.’ And they did. ‘NAFO fellas,’ who’s paying you?” the Utah Senator said in a follow-up post.

Lee has been critical of American assistance to Ukraine for some time and has argued unconditional aid to the country is not in keeping with U.S. interests or priorities. (RELATED: Rand Paul Comes Out Swinging Against Lindsey Graham Over Ukraine Aid)

“Our message to the President: Unrestrained U.S. aid for Ukraine must come to an end, and we will adamantly oppose all future aid packages unless they are linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war to a rapid conclusion,” he said in April.