Matt Gaetz Says Defunding Ukraine Should Be Top Priority

Republican Representative Matt Gaetz said the U.S. should reconsider the amount of money it's sending to Ukraine as a top priority.

Speaking to Fox News' Laura Ingraham on Monday, alongsde Representative Lauren Boebert, Gaetz argued against politicians refusing to consider reducing America's defense spending.

Host Ingraham highlighted that attempting to reduce how much money is put into defense spending would be a controversial issue for many Republicans.

Despite this possibility, Gaetz said the U.S. should cut the amount of money going to Ukraine before reducing its defense spending, a point he felt would be agreeable among Republicans.

Ingraham said: "The issue of defense spending. That is always treated as the sacred cow. You can never touch defense spending no matter how woke the Pentagon is, no matter how much scrutiny the Pentagon needs for its failures.

"We all support our men and women in uniform. But the idea that 55 percent of our discretionary budget can't be touched? Those numbers don't add up with the cuts that you all want.

"Unless you guys ultimately start cutting parts of the military."

Answering the question, Gaetz said: "We can defend this country and project power more efficiently and more effectively than we do.

"President Trump was the first president to demand an audit of the Pentagon, they couldn't pass it. We got an audit to show where they failed to actually deliver on some of the authorities.

"How about we start with Ukraine, before we reduce what we do for our troops.

"I think it is a pretty easy case to make that some of this money that we send to Ukraine without requisite accountability should be the first place for reduction."

Gaetz has repeatedly publicly denounced how involved the U.S. has been with Ukraine as it fights Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

Last week, Gaetz was accused of being on the side of Putin as he sent a tweet mocking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

After that, the chamber came to a standstill as now-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to win enough votes to secure the position.

In reference to that, Gaetz tweeted: "Today the House didn't organize. Biggest loser: Zelensky. Biggest winner: U.S. Taxpayers."

Gaetz also provoked ire during Zelensky's visit to Congress in December, when he didn't applaud the Ukrainian president.

Defending his actions he said: "I feel no compunction to go out and applaud some foreign leader, from a historically corrupt country, who is begging for more than the $100 billion that the Congress is already set to send them."

Newsweek has contacted Matt Gaetz for comment.