FACT CHECK: Joe Biden Claims America Is ‘United’ in Support for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union add
Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty
Kristina Wong

CLAIM: President Joe Biden claimed during the State of the Union address Americans are united in support for Ukraine.

Biden told the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., who was a guest at the speech, “America is united in our support for your country. We will stand with you as long as it takes.”

VERDICT: FALSE. Recent polls show the country is now almost evenly divided in supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia.

A recent poll published by NBC News on January 31 showed there is a near-even split on whether Congress should provide more aid to Ukraine.

According to the poll, which was conducted January 20-24, 49 percent of adults surveyed said Congress should provide more funding and weapons to Ukraine, and 47 percent said Congress should not. The margin of error was three percent.

Another recent poll, conducted by the Pew Research Center, showed deep partisan division on the issue.

In the poll conducted January 18-24, 40 percent of Republicans or Republican-leading independents said there is “too much” support for Ukraine, versus only 15 percent of Democrats or Democrat-leaning independents saying it is “too much.”

“The share of adults who say the U.S. is providing too much aid to Ukraine has increased 6 percentage points since last September and 19 points since shortly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last year,” Pew Research said in a post.

While most of the shift is accounted for by Republicans, there is a growing percentage of Democrats who also say the U.S. is providing too much aid — a 10 percent increase from last March.

Pew also noted “there is a wide partisan gap over whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses a major threat to U.S. interests or not, a shift from the early days of the conflict.” It said:

Last March, Republicans and Democrats were about equally likely to say that the invasion posed a major threat to U.S. interests (51% of Republicans said this, as did 50% of Democrats). The share of Americans who see the conflict as a major threat to U.S. interests has declined in both parties since March 2022. Today, Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to say this (29% vs. 43%).

Biden said during his speech that supporting Ukraine was defending “democracy.”

“For such a defense matters to us because it keeps the peace and prevents open season for would-be aggressors to threaten our security and prosperity,” he argued. “Our nation is working for more freedom, more dignity, and more peace, not just in Europe, but everywhere.”

The U.S. government has committed more than $113 billion to supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict in February 2022, including more than $27 billion in military assistance. Biden recently approved sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a major step in providing Ukraine’s military with more lethal support.

There was a growing divide among the American public on Ukraine even before the recent polls.

In December, nearly half of Americans said Washington should urge Ukraine to settle for peace as soon as possible.

A November 18-20 Chicago Global Affairs Council survey found that “the overall US public is now divided on whether the United States should support Ukraine as long as it takes or if it should urge Kyiv to settle for peace as soon as possible.

“Americans are now closely divided on whether Washington should support Ukraine “as long as it takes” (48 percent, down from 58 percent in July 2022) or whether Washington should urge Ukraine to settle for peace as soon as possible (47 percent, up from 38 percent in July),” the survey showed.

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