DeSantis Takes Stance on Ukraine, and it Has Many OUTRAGED

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been steadily and strategically raising his national profile in recent months, as he prepares for what will almost certainly be a 2024 run for President.

The Sunshine State lawmaker hasn’t yet come out and said so just yet, but his behind-the-scenes actions have left little in the way of other possibilities.

But in his pursuit of countrywide clout, DeSantis is ruffling some feathers – especially now that he’s dropped a heavy new opinion on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

DeSantis’ remarks, which came amid increasing speculation that he will enter the 2024 race for the White House, came in response to a series of questions from Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson to 2024 GOP candidates or hopefuls about their stance on the ongoing war between the two countries.

“While the U.S. has many vital national interests… becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis told Carlson.

And also:

Noting that “peace” should be the objective in the war, the popular Sunshine State governor insisted 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,” adding that providing F-16s and long-range missiles would be “off the table.”

DeSantis also noted that American “citizens are also entitled to know how the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine” and knocked regime change policy as being “popular among the D.C. foreign policy interventionists,” suggesting Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s successor “would likely be even more ruthless.”

The statement prompted some harsh criticism, both from Democrats and DeSantis’ fellow Republicans.

[…] DeSantis’ comments drew immediate scrutiny from a handful of Republicans who have consistently signaled their support for Ukraine as it works to fend off Russian aggression — including former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.

Cheney, a former member of the Jan. 6 Select Committee and an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, said DeSantis “is wrong and seems to have forgotten the lessons of Ronald Reagan.”

“This is not ‘a territorial dispute,'” Cheney said in a statement, according to the New York Times. “The Ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom. Surrendering to Putin and refusing to defend freedom makes America less safe.”

“Weakness is provocative and American officials who advocate this type of weakness are Putin’s greatest weapon. Abandoning Ukraine would make broader conflict, including with China and other American adversaries, more likely,” added Cheney, who lost her bid for re-election last year to pro-Trump Republican Rep. Harriet Hageman.

DeSantis’ comments come just hours after former President Donald suggested that he would be the only man in the world who could prevent World War III from occurring during a campaign stop, and just days after Trump took more ugly swipes at the Florida Governor.