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Tucker Carlson took a verbal shot at 2024 GOP presidential contender Chris Christie after he criticized the former Fox News host over his stances on steering clear of the war in Ukraine.
Christie told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday that Carlson has “always been wrong” about Ukraine, which prompted a response from the “Tucker on Twitter” host.
“Sounds like this could use a longer conversation. We just asked @GovChristie to sit down and explain his views on Ukraine. He refused,” Carlson noted on Twitter.
“You hate to think that Chris Christie is a blustery coward who plays the tough guy with sycophants at ABC but won’t answer real questions, but who knows? We hope he reconsiders,” Carlson added.
Carlson has regularly questioned why the United States is providing tens of billions of dollars in aid and military support to Ukraine while many problems exist in the country and appear to go unnoticed or unaddressed, such as bolstering border security.
During the 2024 GOP presidential candidate forum hosted by Carlson called the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, the former Fox News host put former Vice President Mike Pence through the ringer over the issue of Ukraine and asked him to explain why it is more important to the country than a host of domestic issues.
“You are distressed that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks? Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past three years. Drive around. There is not one city that’s gotten better in the United States. And it’s visible,” Carlson pressed Pence.
“Our economy has degraded, the suicide rate has jumped, public filth and disorder and crime have exponentially increased, and yet your concern is that the Ukrainians, a country most people can’t find on a map, who have received tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars, don’t have enough tanks?” he said. “I think it’s a fair question to ask: Where’s the concern for the United States in that?”
Sounds like this could use a longer conversation. We just asked @GovChristie to sit down and explain his views on Ukraine. He refused. You hate to think that Chris Christie is a blustery coward who plays the tough guy with sycophants at ABC but won’t answer real questions, but… pic.twitter.com/6khc5xi3Co
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 16, 2023
“That’s not my concern. I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern,” Pence began, sarcastically. “I’m running for president of the United States because I think this country is in a lot of trouble. I think Joe Biden has weakened America at home and abroad. And as president of the United States, we’re going to restore law and order in our cities.
“We’re going to restore law and order in our cities, secure our border, get this economy moving again, and we’re going to make sure that we have men and women on our courts at every level who will stand for the right to life and defend all the God-given liberties enshrined in our Constitution,” he continued.
“Anybody who says we can’t be the leader of the free world and solve our problems at home has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on Earth. We can do both,” he went on, without really answering the question. “And as President of the United States, we will secure our border, support our military, revive our economy, and stand by our values, and we will also lead the world for freedom under my administration.”
Earlier, Carlson gave Pence the opportunity to speak to events on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol that turned former President Donald Trump and many of Trump’s supporters against him by asking him if Pence thought of the riot as an “insurrection.”
“I’ve never used the word ‘insurrection,’ Tucker, over the last two years,” Pence finally said after a lengthy response.