Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Wednesday that American leaders should not listen to polls on foreign policy because U.S. foreign adversaries are not.
Christie has come out in support of allocating increased aid to Ukraine and Israel, despite some in his party expressing skepticism or opposition to providing additional funds to Ukraine.
“Leadership, Neil, real leadership is the job of trying to convince people that the position you’re taking is the right one for them and for our country, and it’s not just about reading polls and responding to polls,” Christie said on Fox News’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” “And unfortunately, I think that’s what you see in a number of people who are running for president, including Donald Trump, doing. The fact is, this is a dangerous world where the Chinese aren’t following any polls about whether they should be supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine.”
“The Russians are not following any polls in Russia about that invasion,” Christie continued. “The Iranians are not following any polls about whether they should support Hamas or give drone technology to the Russians to attack the Ukrainian homeland. Our adversaries are not doing that. We cannot do it either. We play a special place in the world, and if we vacate that place, Neil, the Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the North Koreans, will fill that vacuum and that will make it a much more dangerous world and autocratic world where democracy goes to slowly die.”
Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced an amendment to the defense funding bill to block all military assistance to Ukraine in September, which 93 House Republicans voted in favor of, according to The Hill. A majority of Republicans voted with all Democrats to continue funding Ukraine. (RELATED: GOP Presidential Candidate Says We Don’t Need To Protect Ukraine So China Won’t Invade Taiwan)
Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs introduced an amendment intending to reduce funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative by $300 million, but the house voted it down, The Hill reported.
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed skepticism toward funding Ukraine, The Hill reported. He has voted against two appropriations bills in the past year that consisted of funds for Ukraine.
“American taxpayers have sent over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine in the last year,” Johnson said in a Twitter post in February. “They deserve to know if the Ukrainian government is being entirely forthcoming and transparent about the use of this massive sum of taxpayer resources.”