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The 40% quote is obviously a joke to get engagement. Hanania does little twitter trolls semi-frequently, and believing US spending on Ukraine is exactly the kind of populist conservative idiocy he loves attacking. And 40% is way too high to be a serious belief if you know what a gdp is.
Yes. This other tweet makes it even more obvious:
Then it is "haha, I was only pretending to be retarded" type of trolling that is (1) low quality humour (2) not useful form of commentary.
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The fundamental problem with pretty much everything of his that I've ever seen is that two possibilities immediately present themselves.
He's trolling, in which case engaging with him is a waste of time.
He's a complete idiot, in which case engaging with him is a waste of time.
In either case the conclusion is the same, and the old " ha-ha but serious" defense just marks him as being both a liar and a coward in addition to the above.
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For me it is an ideal way to ensure that I will not read anything he wrote, especially on topics where I lack knowledge to spot bad jokes.
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Obvious to whom? People who are already into his stuff?
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