Ron DeSantis becomes the next Republican to criticize unlimited support for Ukraine.

 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. VOA/AP.

Ron DeSantis becomes the next Republican to criticize unlimited support for the war in Ukraine. Voice of America. Ron DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for President in 2024, was given a questionnaire by Tucker Carlson, along with other declared and undeclared candidates for the Republican nomination. DeSantis said that America had other major foreign policy concerns and declared the conflict between Ukraine and Russia as a territorial dispute that was not a vital interest for the United States. DeSantis also criticized unlimited funding for the war and denounced any attempts by the Biden administration to attempt regime change in Russia. DeSantis comments mirrors 2024 front runner Donald Trump's comments on the war in Ukraine, though some Republicans, especially in the Senate, disagree. 

My Comment:

For a man that hasn't declared he is running for President, Ron DeSantis is doing a lot to keep his name in the news. Indeed, this story broke on Monday (thanks to Tucker Carlson) but people have been talking about it all week. 

I do think that Tucker Carlson deserves credit for asking the candidates the question. I know that for me personally it moved my ranking of several of the GOP candidates. DeSantis went from "who knows" to someone I could possibly support (though I am obviously supporting Trump at this time). It also moved Mike Pence and Nikki Haley into the hell freezes over candidate with their brain-dead warmonger pro-Ukraine takes. 

I do question DeSantis and his credibility on the issue. For me this seems less like his actual beliefs and more like a focus group kind of thing. I know for a fact that much of the Republican base, notwithstanding the war hawks in the Senate, are either sick spending billions of dollars in Ukraine or never supported the war in the first place. I think it's very possible that DeSantis saw the way the wind was turning and has decided to switch sides. 

To be fair, as much coverage as DeSantis has gotten in the leadup to 2024 it hasn't been for foreign policy. Ron DeSantis is a culture warrior plain and simple, and not much is known about anything else. This is the first thing I have really heard about Ron DeSantis and his foreign policy opinions and I think it's clear that he needs a lot more vetting in the area. I mean, I would be happy with his domestic opinions but given the stakes now for foreign policy, what is the point of winning the culture war if we end up getting nuked? 

As for people souring on the Ukraine War, I think this isn't a top down issue. Instead it's the GOP base that is pissed about the war and want it to end. I know that I personally never supported Ukraine, even before Russia invaded. But I have been tweeting about this particular new story for the past few days and I have to say that the amount of support I have gotten compared to the criticisms. And much of that criticism was from bots or Europeans. Despite what the polling says I think that the majority of Republicans no longer support the war. 

Of course, I think it's very possible that the entire issue might be moot by the time November 2024 rolls around. Even western media is admitting that Ukraine is losing massive amounts of troops left and are throwing barely trained conscripts into the war. Bakhmut is where Ukraine's third army is dying in droves and I'm not sure they will have the time to build up a fourth. I doubt that Ukraine will be able to hang on until November of 2024...