Ron DeSantis, a leading Republican candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, said in a Sept. 23 podcast he believes that it's not in NATO's best interests to admit Ukraine as a member.    

“I don’t think NATO membership is in our interest,” DeSantis, governor of Florida, told the Glenn Beck Program. “All that would do was add more obligations to us, so if you’re adding more obligations, then what are benefits that we’re getting in return?”

He also said the U.S. shouldn't give Ukraine a "blank check" without trying to force the fighting to end.  

The governor has called Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a "territorial dispute" but later called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" and condemned the invasion.

DeSantis is known in the U.S. for his right-wing policies, such as banning all discussions of sexual orientation in all Florida public schools, and his publicized feud with the Disney Corporation over its statements backing LGBTQ+ rights.    

He has said that, if elected president, he would revoke funding for COVID vaccines and eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and the education, commerce and energy departments.

Glenn Beck is a conservative and libertarian American commentator and conspiracy theorist.