The Republican Party establishment erupted in anger at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after he told Tucker Carlson Ukraine is not a vital interest of the U.S. and the White House should be trying to broker peace instead of offering a “blank check.”
Carlson, the Fox News host, asked several prominent potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates a half-dozen questions, including one about their stance on Ukraine. In his 369-word answer on Ukraine, DeSantis wrote that a secure southern border, military readiness, energy independence, and countering the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party are among the nation’s vital national interests, but becoming further entangled in a “territorial dispute” between Russia and Ukraine is not.
“The Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,” DeSantis told Carlson. “Without question, peace should be objective.”
DeSantis had previously criticized the Biden administration, which has pledged at least $113 billion in aid to Ukraine, for providing a “blank check” with little or no accountability for how the money is spent. But his expanded comments in the answer to Carlson put him at odds with GOP hawks, including potential 2024 rivals Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, and Liz Cheney, as well as Republican Senators Marco Rubio, of Florida; Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina; Thom Tillis, of North Carolina; and John Cornyn, of Texas.
via joemiller