House Speaker Mike Johnson’s Response To Supporting Additional Ukraine Aid: “We All Do!”

House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was asked Thursday if he supports additional aid for Ukraine.

“Mr. Speaker, do you support additional aid to Ukraine?” a reporter asked.

“We all do,” Johnson responded.

“We are going to have conditions on that so we’re working through,” he continued.

“What kind of conditions?” the reporter asked.

“We want accountability and we want objectives that are clear from the White House,” Johnson replied.

WATCH:

Speaker Mike Johnson was asked if he supports additional Ukraine aid.

“We all do…we are going to have conditions on that so we’re working through,” he said.

“We want accountability and we want objectives that are clear from the White House.“ pic.twitter.com/rABVPkHCDw

— Kyle Stewart (@KyleAlexStewart) October 25, 2023

“Actually we all don’t. No more aid to Zelensky. No more escalation. Enough. Realism and restraint overseas. America First,” Steve Cortes said.

Actually we all don’t.

No more aid to Zelensky. No more escalation. Enough.

Realism and restraint overseas. America First. https://t.co/G2ADl9Sb6B

— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) October 26, 2023

Johnson elaborated on his comments during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The House Speaker said they will not abandon Ukraine.

“We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t believe it would stop there, and it would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan,” Johnson said.

“We’re not going to abandon them, but we have a responsibility, a stewardship responsibility, over the precious treasurer of the American people. And we have to make sure the White House is providing the people with some accountability for the dollars,” he added.

“Johnson’s personal voting record did not include any aid to Ukraine. Perhaps this is a political answer to avoid a firestorm. We shall see,” Joey Mannarino commented.

WATCH:

Here is Mike Johnson’s position on Ukraine aid.

He will not link it to Israel aid but says that he does not plan abandoning aid to Ukraine. He says he does want accountability measures on any future aid.

Not exactly the answer many wanted to hear.

Still, an improvement over… pic.twitter.com/qZvOfqTF2g

— Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 27, 2023

After meeting with the Biden administration, Johnson said they’ll push for aid to Israel before Ukraine in a separate package.

The new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, met with Biden yesterday to discuss aid for Ukraine and Israel.

After the meeting, Johnson confirmed that the GOP would not abandon Ukraine.

But House Republicans will propose that Israel receive aid first. https://t.co/UOv3PATN6K

— Tim Mak (@timkmak) October 27, 2023

The Associated Press reports:

President Joe Biden met with new House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries at the White House on Thursday to discuss his request for nearly $106 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other national security needs.

Johnson, a staunch conservative allied with Donald Trump, has shown little interest in providing additional money from Congress to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Later, the new Republican speaker insisted Congress is “not going to abandon” Ukraine.

Instead, Johnson said House Republicans would first bring a separate bill to provide $14.5 billion in aid to Israel, but they need more information about the Biden administration’s Ukraine strategy.

Remember ALL the heat I took for being skeptical of this guy yesterday?

Today: "Speaker Johnson's Ukraine views have been 'evolving'"

Asked whether he supports more assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday, he was surprisingly clear: “We all do" pic.twitter.com/lyftWrUXsR

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 27, 2023

Reuters added:

Newly elected U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said on Thursday that funding to support Ukraine and Israel should be handled separately, suggesting he will not back President Joe Biden’s $106 billion aid package for both countries.

Johnson, speaking in an interview on Fox News, has concerns about Ukraine funding in general, and believes any money for Israel will need to be funded by cuts elsewhere.

He met Biden on Thursday and said he told White House staff “our consensus among House Republicans is we need to bifurcate those issues.”

Biden wants Congress to provide $106 billion in supplemental funding, with the bulk of the money going to bolster Ukraine’s defenses and the remainder split among Israel, Indo-Pacific and border enforcement.

Johnson said of Ukraine funding: “We want to know what the object is there, what is the end game in Ukraine.