On the day before the third anniversary of the brutal, lawless invasion of Ukraine, “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream pressed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on whether it’s “fair to say” that Russia’s attack was unprovoked. Hegseth responded that it’s “fair to say it’s a very complicated situation.”
This is a good illustration of the difference between a complicated question and the complications of answering a simple question honestly. The answer to the question “Does this dress make me look fat?” may be simple enough, but answering it honestly can be quite difficult in some circumstances.
Hegseth is hardly the only prominent Republican official who has dodged the question since the president outrageously claimed that Ukraine “started” the war. Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, also repeatedly refused to answer the question.
Sometimes figuring out who started a war is complicated. But this isn’t World War I or the War of Jenkins’ Ear. Of course Russia started it.
Given that the answer to the question is so uncomplicated, why is answering it so complicated?