Opinion: In flip-flopping on Ukraine, is DeSantis going full-blown Tucker?

In his book, “The Courage to Be Free,” Florida governor and likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis wrote that one of the reasons he joined the Navy JAG Corps right out of law school was because a recruiter told him “there would be a need for military JAGs to lead prosecutions in military commissions of incarcerated terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.”

At the time DeSantis spoke with the recruiter and decided to join the JAG Corps, I was the person the Bush administration had appointed chief prosecutor. DeSantis ended up serving at Guantanamo, but not on my prosecution team. Instead, he was on the legal staff at the Joint Task Force that operates the detention facility. He was too junior in rank and inexperienced to serve in a position that shaped policies or practices. His duties could best be described as administrative. If defense attorneys needed to meet with their clients or if my team needed to serve papers on detainees who were pending trial, he would make the necessary arrangements. I only have a vague recollection of DeSantis and it did not occur to me back then that years later he could potentially become the president or that he would go on to do more harm to America than most detainees we saw at Guantanamo.

Vladimir Putin has not had a more enthusiastic American supporter of his invasion of Ukraine than Tucker Carlson.  Carlson called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “a dark force” and “an instrument of total destruction” while defending Putin and what Carlson called his “border dispute” with Ukraine. On his show, Carlson read a statement by DeSantis on his stance on U.S. policy toward Ukraine. In it, DeSantis said “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.” He slammed President Biden for handing Ukraine a “virtual blank check … without any defined objective or accountability” and warned that ousting Putin could lead to a new Russian leader who “would likely be even more ruthless.”

Calling Putin’s attack on Ukraine a “territorial dispute” is like calling a home invasion a “property dispute.” Whether it is an invasion of a home or a country, the objective is clear — remove the invader and hold him accountable. And imagine telling the victim of a home invasion, “We could remove the invader from your house, but are you sure you want to do that since the next one might be even worse?” You would not negotiate with someone who invaded your home: “I’ll give up my kitchen, laundry room and basement if you’ll stay out of the other rooms.” And President Zelenskyy should not be pressured to negotiate with Putin. There is a simple way for Putin to end the war … get out!

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As New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan noted, DeSantis has pivoted sharply on Ukraine and Russia. In an interview in 2015 following Putin’s invasion and annexation of Crimea, then Congressman DeSantis criticized President Barack Obama for not arming Ukraine. He said “They (Ukrainians) want to fight their good fight. They’re not asking us to fight it for them. And the President has steadfastly refused. And I think that that’s a mistake.” In another interview in 2015, DeSantis said that Putin “knows he can get away with things there. And I think if we had a policy which was firm, which armed Ukraine with defensive and offensive weapons so that they could defend themselves, I think Putin would make different calculations.” In a 2014 interview, speaking about Ukraine, DeSantis said “We have common cause with those folks.”

So, where does Ron DeSantis really stand on our policy towards Ukraine? In 2014 and 2015, he wanted Obama to do more to arm Ukraine and stand up to Putin, and he said we have “common cause” with the Ukrainians, while in 2023 he wants Biden to do less for Ukraine, posits that Putin is less bad than his potential successor, and says we have no national interest in kicking Russia out of Ukraine. Which one is the truth? Has Ron DeSantis really changed his stripes or has he gone full-blown Tucker Carlson and decided to tell the base what they want to hear, not what he really believes, to gain their support?

Ron DeSantis entitled his book “The Courage to Be Free.” It is a shame he lacks the courage to be honest. America needs a leader with a backbone stronger than Gumby’s spine.

Moe Davis is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, attorney, educator, politician, former administrative law judge and former N.C. 11th Congressional candidate.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Opinion: Gov. Ron DeSantis's opposition to U.S. support for Ukraine