Did Ron DeSantis Make a Mistake on Ukraine?

WSJ Opinion: Potomac Watch

The Wall Street Journal

News, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Despite his hawkish past, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded to a Fox News questionnaire by saying the war in Ukraine was not a vital U.S. interest. Was this a mistake by someone relatively new to the world of foreign affairs, and can it be fixed by the time he potentially launches a Presidential campaign? Plus, Donald Trump says he could end the Russia/Ukraine conflict in a day, and Mike Pence believes supporting Ukraine is part of the conservative tradition of Ronald Reagan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Three, two, one.
0:03.0	What will the world look like 10 or 20 years from now?
0:07.2	The Wall Street Journal's future of everything podcast is here to give you a peek, and we
0:11.3	can't wait to show you what's coming.
0:13.7	Subscribe now.
0:15.5	From the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal, this is Potomac Watch.
0:25.5	Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, kicked up a political tempest this week by calling
0:30.2	the Russian invasion and warrant on Ukraine merely a, quote, territorial dispute, and quote,
0:36.6	and that aiding Ukraine with weapons is not in the U.S. national interest because it risks
0:42.9	a clash between NATO and the United States as well as a nuclear conflict.
0:47.8	Why did the governor, as he kind of does a soft launch for his presidential campaign?
0:52.5	What did he do this?
0:53.5	And was it smart policy and smart politics, or could it be his first big political mistake?
0:59.3	Welcome.
1:00.3	I'm Paul Gigo with my colleagues Kim Strassel, now back from Holiday Kim.
1:05.4	Welcome back.
1:06.4	And Bill McGurne.
1:07.4	Hello to both of you.
1:08.9	So a striking move by DeSantis on Ukraine responding to a questionnaire sent out on Ukraine by
1:15.1	a Fox News host.
1:16.4	Ron DeSantis took a line that is similar to the one being taken by Donald Trump, although
1:21.4	not with quite all of the Trumpian bravado that you could expect.
	...

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