Bob Vander Plaats, the conservative evangelical kingmaker in Iowa politics, now knows what happens when you take your Republican presidential showcase to Tucker Carlson.
Jesus is out. Vladimir V. Putin is there.
Mr. Carlson was assigned to interview six Republican presidential candidates at the Family Leadership Conference in Des Moines on Friday. Consequently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine became the dominant topic of debate, on a day when Governor Kim Reynolds of Iowa used the event to sign a near-total abortion ban.
In the hands of Mr. Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who was recently fired, Ukraine became the bad actor in the conflict, not Russia.
The most heated exchange occurred when Mr. Carlson interviewed former Vice President Mike Pence before a packed auditorium at the Des Moines Convention Center. Mr. Pence criticized the Biden administration for being too slow to provide advanced weaponry to Ukraine.
“We promised them 33 Abrams tanks in January. I heard back two weeks ago in Ukraine, they still don’t have them,” said Mr. Pence. “We’ve been telling them we’re going to train their F-16 pilots, but now they’re saying maybe January.”
intervened Mr. Carlson, to the delight of much of the audience. “Wait, I know you’re running for president, but are you upset that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks?” he asked, in his characteristic confrontational style.
To a large extent, Mr. Carlson called Ukraine an American “client state,” accused Ukrainian Jewish leader Volodymyr Zelensky of persecuting Christians, and strongly indicated that Mr. Pence had been defrauded, despite evidence to the contrary.
Mr. Pence was not alone. Senator Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, argued that by degrading the Russian military, US aid to Ukraine made America stronger and safer.
Mr. Carlson responded with a response dismissing the signature.
“The total Russian body count in the United States is around zero; I don’t know anyone who has been killed by Russia,” Carlson said. “I personally know people who have been killed by Mexico,” he said, adding: “Why is Mexico less of a threat than Russia?”
It didn’t fare any better for his first target, Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who led border security under former President George W. Bush, who found himself arguing with Mr. Carlson that bombing Mexican drug cartels could be problematic since it would be an act of war against a friendly neighboring state.
The split in the Republican Party between traditional conservatives who favor the projection of American military power and a new, more isolationist wing leaning toward Russia is nothing new. But the Family Leadership Summit was supposed to be a showcase for Christian values, where social issues like abortion and transgender rights were expected to take center stage.
But by converting Mr. Carlson in a sort of master of ceremonies, Mr. Vander Plaats, the president of The Family Leader, which hosted the summit, gave the crowd a wild card. As the spotlight turned to Nikki Haley, former South Carolina Gov. Eric Teetsel, vice president of government relations at the Heritage Foundation, praised her for “still willing to take the stage” after previous appearances .
Mr. Pence had his share of regrets after his appearance. “I regret that we didn’t have a lot of time during my time on stage to talk about the progress of life or the issues that affect the family,” he said, before adding, “I’m never really surprised by Tucker Carlson.”
