The Fox network appears to be confused about its messaging when it comes to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, however, Fox host Maria Bartiromo tried to make the case that President Joe Biden was being soft on the war because he's on Vladimir Putin's side.
That seemed to fly in the face of Donald Trump's son Eric, who told Fox on Monday that the reason his father would be better at handling the war against Ukraine was that Trump was friends with Putin. Critics noted that in World War II, Mussolini was friends with Hitler. Churchill, however, was not.
"By the way, my father had a great relationship with Putin," said Eric. "All the while, he's sending thousands of javelin missiles to Ukraine. Isn't that really amazing? I mean, Biden has no relationship with Putin and he's literally sending blankets to Ukraine."
Trump also said that because Putin was in the KGB he is a brilliant judge of character and believed the former president was "strong." The younger Trump son was mocked with ridicule for the statement. Putin called Trump "colorful."
Ironically, Trump was mixing up his talking points. Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy explained on Sunday morning that it was former President Barack Obama who sent such little aide to Ukraine in 2014 that he sent nothing but blankets.
Obama sent over $1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine. That included "$20 million to support comprehensive reform in the Ukrainian law enforcement and justice sectors, including prosecutorial and anti-corruption reforms," as the "Kyiv Post" reported at the time. There was also an additional $3 million that went to fund the U.N. World Food Program emergency operation in Ukraine. That came after the U.S. did a $1 billion sovereign loan guarantee issued in May 2014, according to the embassy.
As the "Wall Street Journal" reported, the U.S. government committed nearly $320 million in assistance to Ukraine that year. There was a concern at the time that if the world sent money directly to Ukraine it would be squandered by corrupt leaders and oligarchs.
Biden has sent significantly more aid than both Obama and Trump, at $1.2 billion in the last year, including $350 million in March alone. Despite 31 Republican "no" votes, another round of aid is headed to Ukraine, totaling $13.6 billion.
Defense news revealed in Feb. 2022 that "Javelins would be part of the aid but declined to confirm that Stinger anti-aircraft missiles would be included." On March 1, it was confirmed that the Stinger missiles were included in the package. There were also ammunition, rocket launchers and grenade launchers. The U.S. is also sending non-lethal aid requested by soldiers on the front lines.
See Eric Trump's flub below:
Eric Trump says his father had a great relationship with Putin and says Biden has no relationship with Putin pic.twitter.com/TJQHBYfyog
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 15, 2022
Eric Trump: Putin was in with the KGB. He can read people and he could tell that Donald Trump was a very strong person pic.twitter.com/1BqhstcUMP
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 15, 2022
