Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) took a clear swipe at President Trump this week by noting that seven in 10 Americans told a recent survey they blame Russia for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Overwhelmingly, Americans know who is at fault. Moral clarity is important,” Bacon wrote on X Thursday morning.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 70% of Americans disagreed with the statement “Ukraine is more to blame for starting the war,” with only 7% saying they agreed.
More than three-fifths of Republicans (62%) also said they rejected the idea, compared to 81% of Democrats.
Bacon has been one of the most outspoken House Republican supporters of Ukraine as Trump tries to broker a cease-fire between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump, 78, has called Zelensky, 47, a “dictator” and said last month Ukraine “should never have started” war with Russia — despite Moscow invading Ukraine in February of 2022.
On Friday, Bacon made a pointed reference on X to Russian agents poisoning then-Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko more than two decades ago.
“Russia tired [sic] to assassinate the Ukrainian President in 2004 using poison. He survived but was scarred. The war in Ukraine didn’t start in 2022,” the Nebraskan wrote.
On Wednesday, Bacon wrote: “Real Republicans know that Putin’s Russia hates the West and freedom. We also know that Ukraine wants democracy, free markets and rule of law. We stand with right vs evil. Reagan, Churchill, Eisenhower… that is our legacy. I won’t walk away from it.”
Trump had a major rift with Zelensky at the White House Feb. 28 and has yet to fully repair relations with Ukraine.
Zelensky came to Washington to sign a mineral deal with the US, intending to create a joint mineral fund that would gather profit for both countries and provide an economic “security guarantee” for Kyiv.
Many congressional Republicans sided with Trump over kicking Zelensky out of the White House with no deal, arguing that the president was protecting American interests.
But Bacon, in response to the blowup, said it marked “a bad day for America’s foreign policy. Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom.”
The Reuters/Ipsos poll Bacon cited found Americans split on the mineral idea, with 50% disagreeing with the statement “the US should get a share of Ukraine’s minerals” — including 75% of Democrats — and only 46% agreeing, including 73% of Republicans.
Trump has not called Putin a dictator, but did threaten to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday if the country didn’t stop hitting Ukraine with missiles and didn’t “get to the table right now” to find peace.
Bacon’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The Post.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,174 US adults March 3-4, 2025. The margin of error is was plus-or-minus 3% for all adults and plus-or-minus 5% for all other groups.
