Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade didn’t go easy on biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy the morning after the fourth Republican debate, slamming his “naive” Ukraine policy.
Mr Ramaswamy appeared on Fox News from a Tuscaloosa diner, the Alabama city where the debate had taken place the previous evening.
In the hour before the interview, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy had called Mr Ramaswamy’s debate performance “embarrassing.”
“You sound so naive!” Mr Kilmeade told Mr Ramaswamy.
Right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec posted the footage on X, writing “Fox and Friends blasts Vivek for calling for a peace deal in Ukraine, he responds that their neocon logic got us the disaster in Afghanistan in fiery throwdown”.
Mr Kilmeade called Mr Ramaswamy’s position “just ridiculous on Russia and Ukraine. He says, ‘Tell Russia basically they can have Ukraine if they promised not to have an alliance with China’ ... Are you comfortable pulling all our aid out? And do you really believe that Vladimir Putin will agree not to have an alliance with China?”
“I think we have to play hardball there and make a hard deal that requires any reneging on that deal to have major consequences,” Mr Ramaswamy said. “I think that we have to be able to have real consequences ... we have sanctions, we don't have a maximum pressure campaign ... the clear principles are this war doesn't advance US interests.”
“I think it is not in our interest to strengthen the Russia-China Alliance,” he added as the Fox host yelled, “It’s going to be done anyway”.
“We are driving Russia into China's hands. There are kinks in the armour of that relationship. Look at Russia sending weapons to India into Vietnam after other meetings they've had. This is our opportunity. Nixon did this in 1972,” Mr Ramaswamy said.
“Are you comfortable giving up Eastern Europe?” Mr Kilmeade asked. “Because you know, they're already taking Moldova, already making moves on the Baltic. They're taking more and more pieces of Georgia ... We got an invasion. So what is going to be next?”
“We have no idea how Ukraine has spent $200bn dollars of our money,” Mr Ramaswamy responded.
“The Ukrainians are probably the best fighters in the world,” Mr Kilmeade said, adding that they’re fighting got their “sovereignty”.
The Independent has reached out to Fox for comment.
