After questioning multiple Republican 2024 presidential candidates over the weekend, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he asked candidate Chris Christie to debate him on Ukraine and alleged the former New Jersey governor is ducking him.
Over the weekend, Mr. Christie told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that Mr. Carlson has “always been wrong” on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and said that if he were debating Mr. Carlson, he would push back. Mr. Carlson interviewed six Republican presidential candidates, while Mr. Christie, former President Donald Trump, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum didn’t attend.
“I would have said, ‘You’ve always been wrong about this, Tucker, and you’re still wrong,’” Mr. Christie told Mr. Stephanopoulos, adding that “the Ukrainians are willing to fight this fight for themselves if they have our support to be able to win it.”
Mr. Christie also said that he believes polling and speaking to voters has revealed that a “majority of Republicans want us to be supporting Ukraine,” though he didn’t cite any specific surveys. “Those folks are fighting for their own freedom, their own liberty, and they’re degrading the Russian army and sending a message to the Chinese,” he said.
Carlson Responds
But in response, Mr. Carlson posed a screenshot containing some of Mr. Christie’s comments, challenging him to a discussion on the topic.
“Sounds like this could use a longer conversation,” Mr. Carlson wrote on Twitter to his 9 million followers. “We just asked [Mr. Christie] to sit down and explain his views on Ukraine. He refused.”
The former Fox News host added, “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.”
It comes several days after Mr. Carlson challenged former Vice President Mike Pence over his comments about Ukraine during the Iowa Family Leadership Summit.
