Political commentator Brit Hume corrected Tucker Carlson on-air after the Fox News host stated that the country was "sending 8,500 American troops" to the Ukrainian border amid fears of an invasion from Russia.
During his show on Tuesday night, Carlson repeated a claim made by a number of conservative figures that the U.S. does not need to get involved in any military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and should instead focus on domestic issues such as the migrant crisis on the southern border.
Carlson made reference to the Pentagon ordering 8,500 troops to be on high alert to potentially be deployed into Europe as part of NATO's response to any Russian invasion, as confirmed in a press conference by Pentagon press secretary John Kirby.
"Wait, we're only sending 8,500 American troops to protect the Ukrainian border, asked the teleprompter," Carlson said. "Well, says John Kirby, actually, we could send a lot more. They're all poised to secure the sacred Ukrainian border.
"So you may be wondering, how does that commitment compare to what the Pentagon is willing to deploy to our southern border? Well, let's see, a little back-of-the-envelope math here. It's exactly 8,500 more because there are no troops, no American troops heading to our southern border."
Later on in the show, Carlson introduced Hume to talk about why the U.S. is involving itself in European border issues and not concentrating on the record-breaking numbers of people illegally entering the country from Mexico.
Hume immediately said that Carlson did "overstate a little bit how strenuously the U.S. was really trying" to protect Ukraine's border.
"No American troops are going to Ukraine," Hume said.
When Carlson interjected to say that the U.S. is sending "billions of dollars in weapons" to Ukraine to assist with any potential conflict, Hume said: "Yes, we are sending weapons that's for sure."
Hume, a longtime Fox News political analyst, then went on to criticize the Biden administration for making "no serious effort" to solve the migrant crisis.
"There are two reasons for this: One is ideological, liberals believe that these people are crossing the border after these wretched, hair raising trips in Mexico are among the downtrodden people of the earth. I think they certainly are, and that they deserve our compassion and sympathy," Hume said.
"And the other view is that is the belief I think that that these people will come here and they will vote Democrat," Hume said, despite the fact that undocumented people cannot register to vote in the U.S.
Hume also said the U.S. dealing with international issues instead of domestic ones is a sign of "weakness."
"We're worried about what China's doing and its area, and in the Far East. We're worried about what Russia is doing...We're worried about North Korea. Well, I don't see how this behavior toward the situation on the border can be construed as anything other than another display of weakness," Hume said.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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