Tucker Carlson had no shortage of charged exchanges over the Ukraine war and sex alteration procedures with Republican presidential candidates during the first half of a slate of interviews at a conservative summit in Iowa.
At the Family Leadership Summit on Friday, several candidates hoped to differentiate themselves from the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination — former President Donald Trump. While Carlson’s latter-half interviews with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy produced relatively little static, a handful of Republican hopefuls at the top half of the event appeared to struggle in their interviews.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was immediately put on the defensive by Carlson’s questions about his vetoing a ban on transgender hormone therapy for children in Arkansas, which Hutchinson justified by claiming the bill was too invasive and unconstitutional. Hutchinson tried to move on from the subject, stating, “Tucker, I hope we’ll be able talk about some issues.”
Carlson responded, “This is one of the biggest issues in the country. It is a central issue. These are children who are being altered permanently.”
Still, the exchange that appeared to cause the most commotion on social media was when Carlson interrupted former Vice President Mike Pence while he was talking about delays in transferring fighter jets to Ukraine to ask why the presidential candidate was not showing the same level of concern for American cities that are in crisis, a concern which Pence tersely dismissed.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Vice President. 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’s not one city that’s gotten better,” Carlson said. “And it’s visible. 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 … don’t have enough tanks? I think it’s a fair question to ask: Where’s the concern for the United States in that?”
Pence responded, “That’s not my concern.”
Carlson asked Pence whether he questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when they recently met about the alleged treatment of some Christians in Ukraine, which Carlson claimed have been enduring persecution because of their association with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Pence said he was assured by a church leader in Ukraine that the Zelenskyy government was respecting religious freedom but that elements tied to the Russian Orthodox church in Ukraine suspected of disloyalty were being subject to “steps to hold them to account.”
The former vice president went on to justify his support for billions of dollars of government spending on Ukraine’s war effort, noting that his son and son-in-law are fighter pilots.
“I never want to see American armed forces in Ukraine. I want to give the Ukrainian military what they need to fight and repel the Russian invasion,” Pence said.
Carlson also confronted presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), his first interviewee of the day. He pressed Scott on his support for aiding Ukraine in the war with Russia, asking the senator if he was concerned about the United States drifting closer toward a direct confrontation with Russia.
Scott stood up from his seat and stated, “America’s national vital interest is degrading the Russian military.”
“Tucker Carlson is ending careers today,” tweeted one observer.