Salazar was ill prepared to talk about Ukraine. Tucker Carlson went for the jugular | Editorial

At another point in time, FOX News host Tucker Carlson’s dressing down of Miami U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar’s gaffe about the war in Ukraine would’ve been entertaining material for late-night comics. But in a time of international crisis, her words — and her grasp of a serious national security issue — matter.

She needs to know what she’s talking about. And she doesn’t.

Every politician is rushing to cable news these days to say something about Vladimir Putin and President Biden’s response to the war. It’s an election year, we get it, but we expect our elected leaders at least to be prepared.

Enter Salazar.

She appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Wednesday to do damage control after an interview with The Grayzone, an independent news outlet, in which she appeared to support a “no-fly zone” in Ukraine’s airspace, which the White House and several lawmakers from both parties oppose.

“I support everything that has to do with punishing Vladimir Putin and helping the Ukrainians,” she said when asked about her stance in a video posted on Twitter.

When the reporter asked if she knew a no-fly zone could mean “conventional warfare with Russia,” she replied, “I don’t know what it will mean but, you know, freedom is not free.” He followed up, “So you don’t know what a no-fly zone would mean, if you have to shoot down Russian planes, I mean . . .” Salazar responded: “Of course.”

Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, too, is calling on Biden to either heed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone or give Ukraine access to military planes and other resources. Last week, the United States blocked Poland’s attempt to send American-made fighter jets to Ukraine. The Pentagon said that Vladimir Putin could see it as an act of aggression.

Contrast that with Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s far wiser views on a no-fly zone:

“I’d love to be able to do it. The problem is you have to be able to knock out surface-to-air missile sites in Russia’s defense, and some of those are inside of Russia,” Rubio told the Herald.

In other words, a major escalation of warfare.

Why Salazar chose Carlson’s show to set the record straight — and she appears genuine in her concern for the plight of the Ukrainian people — is mystifying. Carlson doesn’t hide his admiration for autocrats and has peddled pro-Putin propaganda, including misinformation promoted by the Kremlin that the United States funded biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, Carlson, though disingenuous, is a skilled debater and he exposed how ill-prepared Salazar seems to be as a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

She backpedaled her previous stance, saying “My position is that we should not take the ‘no-fly zone’ off the table.” When asked if she had considered that a potential war with Russia posed the risk of a nuclear attack on the United States, she replied, “That’s a hypothetical question.” She added that Putin “will not take that step if, starting today, the Biden administration will send the message that we are in charge.”

Salazar appears to be trying to catch a ride to reelection this fall on the “Biden is weak” bandwagon, but she couldn’t elaborate her stances beyond the cliche, “We acquire peace through strength.” She gave a lot of pat solutions, such as that the United States should support whatever Ukrainians think is best for their country.

“What do you mean? You’re an American policymaker imposing your views on Ukraine,” Carlson pointed out.

We expect nothing short of a robust debate on how the United States should deal with Putin. But we expect more substance from the people elected to set policy that impacts this and other countries.

This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 5:05 PM.