Matt Gaetz Would Rather Have Russia Than Ukraine in NATO

Representative Matt Gaetz said NATO would be better off having Russia as a member nation than Ukraine.

"If we had to pick Russia or Ukraine for NATO, one could reasonably make the argument that Russia probably provides more benefit long term," the Florida Republican said on Newsmax's Eric Bolling the Balance on Tuesday.

It's been more than 500 days since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Western nations have allied in support of Ukraine's resistance. One of the focal points of the war has been Russia's fierce opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine, which Russia insists would threaten the country's "historic future as a nation."

Although Ukraine won new security assurances from the U.S. and its allies this week at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, member nations of the military alliance refused to give Ukraine a time frame on joining, despite Ukraine's push for rapid entry.

Gaetz, meanwhile, argues that allowing Russia into NATO, instead of Ukraine, would do more to help the U.S. counter the threat posed by China.

"Why would you pick Ukraine? Why not extend NATO to Russia and make it an anti-China alliance?" he asked on Newsmax. "Are we really thinking that we're more afraid of the broke-down tanks from Russia than the fact that China is building a secret military base on the island of Cuba, 90 miles away from the United States?"

U.S.-China relations have deteriorated in recent years, but President Joe Biden sent two of his Cabinet officials to Beijing in the past weeks to help stabilize ties between the superpowers.

On Newsmax, Gaetz, an outspoken critic of U.S. support for Ukraine, criticized Biden's foreign policy as a "paint by numbers" approach and accused the president of "sleepwalking us into World War III the way a dementia patient would sleepwalk into a late-night Waffle House."

"Who's waiting around to open the 86-year-old vintage of Joe Biden? Who thinks that, like right now, he might not be as spry, but three, four years from now, after potential reelection, that's really when this wine opens up?" Gaetz said.

He added that "American weakness, sadly, has emerged out of Joe Biden's weakness."

Newsweek reached out by email to the White House for comment.

Although most American politicians were quick to jump to Ukraine's defense when the war began last year, some GOP members of Congress have grown increasingly opposed to continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine. Those Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for the hefty price tag of military, financial and humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainians.

The U.S. has far outspent any other country in support for Ukraine. The Biden administration and Congress have approved more than $75 billion in aid for Ukraine, which accounts for more than 70 percent of all global aid sent to the country, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research institute.

The Republican opposition to support for Ukraine has also gained traction among GOP voters.

A poll conducted by Pew Research last month found that 44 percent of Republicans say the U.S. is giving too much support to Ukraine, compared with the 9 percent who said the same in March of last year. Fewer Republicans say that Russia is a major threat to the U.S., with that number dropping from 51 percent to 28 percent between March 2022 and June 2023. And only 23 percent of GOP voters approve of Biden's response to the war.

Across political affiliations, most support U.S. spending on Ukraine, with 31 percent saying the nation is providing the right amount of aid and 16 percent saying the U.S. is not providing enough assistance.