Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post slams Ron DeSantis on Ukraine

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recent opposition to America’s support of Ukraine has earned criticism from political opponents across the spectrum. Now, the New York Post editorial board is taking him to task.

That’s especially notable amid talk that media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the Post, has increasingly been seen as one of DeSantis’ strongest boosters in an expected run for President.

“Ron DeSantis has shown plenty of leadership as Florida’s governor, but he’s sure dodging the challenge when it comes to the war in Ukraine,” reads the op-ed from the New York Post editorial board.

DeSantis this week said in response to a questionnaire from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that “becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia” is not among the nation’s vital interests. That’s a significant deviation from votes taken by DeSantis while he served in Congress.

“The (President Joe) Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,” DeSantis wrote.

The Post editorial said DeSantis at least had a point on the fiscal argument.

“DeSantis was on safer ground when he slammed Biden’s “virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability,” Post editors write. “The president’s been a bit confused on the details since before Moscow invaded, when Biden tried to deter Putin by threatening sanctions when he should’ve been rushing arms to Kyiv.”

But the editorial asserts DeSantis is way off by dismissing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of a former Soviet state as a regional issue.

“This is a naked attack on the entire world order — and thus on a vital U.S. interest,” the editorial states.

“And ‘territorial dispute’ is a pretty lame way to describe an unprovoked invasion that’s included savage attacks on civilians and a host of other war crimes. If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, it’ll show other regimes (China, Iran, etc.) that aggression works. And Russia itself will look to move on other nations, including NATO allies America’s obliged to defend.”