Fox News host Tucker Carlson delivered six key questions on Ukraine — and the ongoing war with Russia — to a number of GOP candidates who have either declared a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination or are likely to do so.
Carlson explained in a video tweeted on Monday that he had been largely impressed with the answers — save for name-dropping a couple of candidates who had not answered the questions at all — and that they had not been in line with the narrative most often heard from prominent Republican leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
WATCH:
We asked every potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate to answer six key questions on the war in Ukraine. As promised, their full responses are below. pic.twitter.com/tjcM4w54cR
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 14, 2023
Carlson began by listing the questions he had asked, saying that he had only thrown them out there because legacy media outlets appeared disinterested in pursuing any avenue that did not end with more money going to Ukraine.
- Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital strategic interest for America?
- What’s our objective in Ukraine and how will we know we’ve achieved it?
- What is the limit of money and weapons you’d be willing to send to Zelensky?
- Should the United States support regime change in Russia?
- Have U.S. sanctions been effective?
- Does the United States face the possibility of nuclear war with Russia?
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton — whom Carlson had identified as a potential 2024 hopeful — informed the show that he was busy with other things and could not take the time to respond.
“Most of the rest of them did get back to us, and we are grateful that they did,” Carlson continued, adding, “In general, the answers were fascinating, some of them were so thoughtful and so smart they give you hope for the Republican Party. With only a few exceptions, their answers bore no resemblance at all to the statements you see every day from Mitch McConnell and various Republican committee chairmen in Congress.”
Carlson went on to say that Republicans in Congress were more likely to be “committed neocons” and thus more likely to support funding Ukraine’s ongoing war than some of the Republicans who are or may be running for president in 2024.
What followed was a preview of the responses from every potential contender – and then a Twitter thread including their complete responses.
Former President Donald Trump, after claiming that Russia would not have attacked Ukraine if he had been in the White House, said that he would demand that Europe pick up a more equitable share in the cost.
“Start by telling Europe that they must pay at least equal to what the U.S. is paying to help Ukraine,” he said in part. “They must also pay us, retroactively, the difference. At a staggering 125 Billion Dollars, we are paying 4 to 5 times more, and this fight is far more important for Europe than it is for the U.S.”
Florida Governor @RonDeSantisFL answers our Ukraine questionnaire:
“While the U.S. has many vital national interests – securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural,… https://t.co/1I2elVi6hI
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 14, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not yet declared a run for the presidency, also weighed in on the issue.
DeSantis, a Navy veteran himself, criticized the Biden administration for failing to define an objective and committing American taxpayers to footing a seemingly endless bill.
“Without question, peace should be the objective. The U.S. should not provide assistance that could require the deployment of American troops or enable Ukraine to engage in offensive operations beyond its borders,” DeSantis said, warning against providing aid that could easily be seen as an escalation against Russia. “F-16s and long-range missiles should therefore be off the table. These moves would risk explicitly drawing the United States into the conflict and drawing us closer to a hot war between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. That risk is unacceptable.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence said that “victory” would be a free and peaceful Ukraine — and suggested that Russia’s posturing with regard to the nuclear threat was just that.
“Putin is still ‘the small and bullying leader of Russia,’ his talk of nuclear war is a bullying tactic that he used at the start of the invasion. But Putin should know the United States will not be bullied. This administration has not led with strength on the world stage, but America is still a nation that believes peace comes through strength,” Pence explained.
2024 GOP Presidential Candidate @VivekGRamaswamy answers our Ukraine questionnaire (1/3)
Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital American national strategic interest?
“No, it is not “vital.” Rather, this is a stark reminder of what is a vital American national strategic interest:… https://t.co/P8SdCeethC
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 14, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy, who has declared his candidacy, noted that the war was not a “vital” interest — pointing out the fact that the wane of American energy independence under President Joe Biden had created a situation that made it advantageous for Russia to invade Ukraine.
“This is a stark reminder of what is a vital American national strategic interest: national energy independence. This war is a symptom of America’s lack of self sufficiency. Putin is a tyrant and started this needless war, but he did so because we created incentives that tipped the balance of his decision-making in favor of invading: if he knows the West relies on him to provide oil and gas (because the U.S. and Western Europe have self-inflicted limitations on their own ability or willingness to produce), then Putin is in a stronger position–and that led him to think he could win,” he said. “The more America is reliant on foreign energy and oil, the less leverage we have with petro dictators.”
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley responded to all of Carlson’s questions in a press release sent out Tuesday:
During his Ukraine survey of 2024 candidates, Tucker Carlson said yesterday that most of the contenders responded but "Nikki Haley ignored us."
Ambassador @NikkiHaley released the following answers to those questions today: pic.twitter.com/klJo4E8XCR
— Philip Melanchthon Wegmann (@PhilipWegmann) March 14, 2023
Carlson also provided the full answers he received from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Carlson noted that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu did not respond to the questions.