News/Commentary

Graham and Christie slam DeSantis for position on Ukraine, say he sounds like ‘Neville Chamberlain’

March 15, 2023 | | Print Article

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) joined former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in bashing fellow Republicans who question the US involvement in Ukraine, specifically targeting Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) who says we cannot “become further entangled in a territorial dispute.”

(Video Credit: Fox News)

Their comments follow Fox News host Tucker Carlson sending a number of questions concerning Ukraine out to potential 2024 presidential candidates in the GOP. Carlson read the statements on-air Monday night and it showed a definite rift among conservatives over the issue. The most popular candidates, former President Trump and DeSantis, are against the U.S. involvement in Ukraine and do not see it as a “vital” US interest. Trump wants to “work out a deal” to end the war.

“While the US 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, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party – becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis contended.

Those such as Graham and Christie, who are despised by many conservatives, want to go all-in and do whatever it takes to defeat Russia even if it means depleting the U.S. military, making America vulnerable to communist China, and bankrupting the nation.

Graham, who is seen by many as a war hawk, aggressively argued for supporting Ukraine against Russia, invoking the lessons of World War II.

“To those who believe that Russia’s unprovoked and barbaric invasion of Ukraine is not a priority for the United States – you are missing a lot,” Graham tweeted.

“Ukraine willingly gave up their nuclear weapons in 1994 in exchange for Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty, which included Crimea,” he recounted. “Putin is openly saying that his long term goal is to recreate the old Russian empire and he has no intention of stopping in Ukraine.”

 

“The last time someone in Europe claimed the land of others, and tried to take it by force of arms, was Adolf Hitler’s attempt to build a Third Reich,” Graham continued. “Those who miscalculated Hitler’s intentions paved the way for a wider war and missed many opportunities to stop him early on.”

“Now is not the time to repeat the mistakes of the past,” he proclaimed. “By the way, China’s claim to Taiwan is also based on the proposition of a territorial dispute. I hope both the Democrat and Republican parties will reject this proposition.”

Christie blasted DeSantis in a statement to Axios on Tuesday, saying, “[DeSantis] sounds like Neville Chamberlain talking about when Germany had designs on Czechoslovakia.”

Those reactions were in response to Carlson’s first question to GOP leaders, “Is opposing Russia in Ukraine a vital American national strategic interest?”

Fox News summed up the responses on Carlson’s show from former President Trump, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and Christie:

“Trump said, ‘No, but it is for Europe,’ adding that European allies ‘should be paying far more than we are, or equal.’ DeSantis told Carlson, ‘While the US has many vital national interests… becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.’ Noem pointed to China as being the ‘primary external threat’ to the US instead of Russia, saying the war in Ukraine ‘should be Europe’s fight, not ours.’ Ramaswamy said it’s not vital to oppose Russia while stressing it is vital for the US to have energy independence, insisting that had Europe relied more on the US for oil and gas instead of Russia, the invasion might not have happened,” the media outlet noted.

Trump, DeSantis, Noem, and Ramaswamy all took a stance that Ukraine should not be our primary concern currently and that we are facing too many other threats thanks to the botched leadership of President Biden and the Democrats. Republicans who are seen as part of the swamp, such as Pence and Christie, support Ukraine in the war.

“Pence touted the ‘Reagan doctrine’ of fending off enemies on their shores to prevent America’s direct involvement, telling Carlson, ‘There is no room for Putin apologists in the Republican Party. This is not America’s war, but if Putin is not stopped and the sovereign nation of Ukraine is not restored quickly, he will continue to move toward our NATO allies, and America would then be called upon to send our own,'” Fox News reported.

“Scott said it is a vital national interest to degrade Russia’s military. Christie similarly stated, ‘Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is a national security issue that threatens our alliances and our standing in the world,’ adding ‘this is a proxy war being waged by Russia’s ally China against the United States’ and that ‘it would be naive to call this anything but Chinese aggression,'” the outlet added.

Haley, Christie, Pence and Mike Pompeo all invoked Reagan’s policies as justification for involvement in the war in Ukraine. Other Republicans support that view as well.

Republican Senator Roger Wicker (MS) pointed out in a statement made on Tuesday that the Russian military taking down a US drone in the Black Sea proves Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “threat” in remarks that appeared to rebuke DeSantis.

That statement came just hours after Carlson reported on the Florida governor’s comments.

Wicker, who is the chair of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee and counsel to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, hit back at “isolationists” and called the incident over the Black Sea a “wake-up call.”

(Video Credit: CNBC Television)

“This brazen act by Russian pilots against an American aircraft flying in international airspace makes clear that Vladimir Putin is an adversary,” Wicker declared in his statement. “This incident should serve as a wake-up call to isolationists in the United States that it is in our national interest to treat Putin as the threat he truly is.”

“Putin wants nothing more than for incidents like these to push the United States away from our support of Ukraine and prevent us from rolling back his destructive policies. We must choose to project strength against our adversary, not appease this dictator with words or so-called ‘de-escalation,’” he asserted.

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