Voters across the spectrum responded to former President Trump's Ukraine remarks during the debate
Donald Trump claims that Ukraine war is 'dying to be settled:' 'We're playing with World War III'
Voters across the board responded to former President Donald Trump's argument for ending the war in Ukraine during Tuesday night's debate. (Credit: ABC News Presidential Debate)
Voters in Fox News' focus group reactions varied across Republican, Democratic and Independent lines when former President Donald Trump talked about the Russia-Ukraine war on Tuesday night.
"I want the war to stop. I want to save lives that are being uselessly killed by the millions. It's the millions. It's so much worse than the numbers that you're getting, which are fake numbers. Look, we're in for $250 billion or more because they don't ask Europe, which is a much bigger beneficiary to getting this thing done than we are," Trump said.
Independent and Republican voters' reactions in Fox's dial group shot up during Trump's response regarding Europe's role in the war, while Democrat approval dipped.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump face off for their first presidential debate at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Getty Images)
"They respect me. They don't respect Biden," Trump said moments later. "How would you respect him? Why? For what reason? He hasn't even made a phone call in two years to Putin, hasn't spoken to anybody. They don't even try and get it."
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"That is a war that's dying to be settled. I will get it settled before I even become president … That war would have never happened. And in fact, when I saw Putin after I left, unfortunately left because our country has gone to hell. But after I left, when I saw him building up soldiers, he did it."
Approval of former President Donald Trump spiked when he warned that the conflict in Ukraine could escalate into World War III. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During Trump's remarks, Republican and Democratic support increased as he talked about settling the war, while support among Independents decreased.
Independent and Republican approval again spiked when Trump said, "And now you have millions of people dead, and it's only getting worse. And it could lead to World War III … We're playing with World War III."
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Vice President Kamala Harris during the second presidential debate at The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Harris opened her presidential debate with former President Donald Trump by touting her economic agenda, saying she was the only candidate on stage with a plan focused on "lifting up the middle class and working people of America." (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Independent and Republican approval continued to rise as Trump blasted President Biden, saying "we have a president who doesn't know if he's alive."
Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.
