Lindsey Graham may think that President Joe Biden is “the Rodney Dangerfield of world leaders,” but Tucker Carlson inadvertently defended the president Wednesday night after pinning the South Carolina senator as a peddler of “anti-American stupidity.” And it all goes back to Russia.
The takedown began Tuesday when Graham, speaking on “Hannity,” shared how he thinks the United States, specifically President Joe Biden, should respond after a Russian jet reportedly collided with a U.S. drone and sent it crashing down into the Black Sea.
“We should hold them accountable, and say that if you ever get near another U.S. jet flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down,” Graham said. “What would Ronald Reagan do right now? He would start shooting Russian planes down if they were threatening our assets. American foreign policy is in free fall.”
Carlson, however, wasn’t buying it. After casting doubt that the drone crashed at all due to Russian aggression (“It’s all we have, we’re gonna have to take their [the Biden administration] word for it”), the Fox News host accused Graham of not asking enough “penetrating questions.” Instead, “he moved immediately, seized the opportunity to demand that the Pentagon attack the Russian air force.”
But what would Ronald Reagan actually do? Carlson drummed up his best guess.
“Good question, Sen. Graham,” Carlson began. “Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency was notable for the fact that he did not declare war on the Russian air force and therefore the United States did not go to war with Russia and millions of lives were saved as a result. That’s not a small thing. Put one in the Reagan ‘win’ column there.”
The “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host then accused Graham of aligning with the “war party.”
“Their plan is to ignore our borders in the United States but to defend Ukraine’s. They’re even funding the Ukrainian pension system—not kidding—as our own American banks collapse. What would Ronald Reagan do? He’d probably vomit if he saw it,” Carlson said. “We’re glad Ronald Reagan is not here to watch Lindsey Graham invoke his name to justify anti-American stupidity. What about Lindsey Graham’s plans, the plans of almost every Republican senator in the U.S. Senate and all the democrats—how do they help the United States? Well, they never answer that question because they couldn’t be less interested.”
Carlson goes on in the 14-minute opening segment to break down his precise grievances with U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war with Russia, what messaging the 2024 Republican presidential nominee should embrace and more.
Watch the full “Tucker Carlson Tonight” segment in the video above.
