Fox News host Tucker Carlson torched GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina after he called for the U.S. to begin shooting down Russian planes in retaliation for the loss of unmanned aircraft, such as the drone lost over the Black Sea earlier this week.

Graham stated that former President Ronald Reagan would have acted similarly.

On “Hannity” Tuesday evening, the senator reacted to news a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone was downed earlier in the day by two Russian fighter jets.

U.S. European Command said in a statement the drone was carrying out “routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted” and that Russia’s decision to take it out of the sky was “unsafe and unprofessional.”

Graham told host Sean Hannity the loss of the drone was an act of war and said the Pentagon should make it clear to Russia that similar acts of aggression in the future will result in the loss of its pilots.

"If you ever get near another U.S. asset flying in international waters, your airplane will be shot down,” he said.

"What would Ronald Reagan do right now?" Graham asked. "He would start shooting Russian planes down if they were threatening our assets.”

Graham concluded the drone was shot down as a result of the international community having lost its respect for the country under the poor leadership of President Joe Biden, which is almost certainly true.

Wednesday night, Carlson aired a clip of Graham’s interview with his network colleague and derided the senator for invoking the name of Reagan while calling to escalate a “cold” conflict into a “hot” one.

Carlson does not hide his disdain for the senator and he pulled no punches during Wednesday's blistering.

The host opened up a scathing rebuke of Graham by hitting him for taking the Defense Department at its word on the downing of the drone.

“Lindsey Graham didn’t ask many penetrating questions,” Carlson told his viewers. “No, he moved immediately, seized the opportunity to demand that The Pentagon attack the Russian Air Force.”

In response to Graham’s questioning of “What would Ronald Reagan do,” Carlson unloaded.

“Oh, good question, Senator Graham,” he said. "Ronald Reagan’s two-term presidency was notable for the fact that he did not declare war on the Russian Air Force, and therefore the United States did not go to war with Russia.”

The host called Reagan a president the country was told would be "a crazed warmonger" but actually ended up being one who brought prosperity to America and created international peace.

Carlson said Reagan’s policy of ensuring America was at its strongest saved millions of lives as it collapsed the Soviet Union with no shots being fired.

“He kept the American economy strong,” Carlson said. “It’s pretty much the opposite of the approach being pushed right now by Lindsey Graham and his friends in the war warty.”

Carlson said establishment politicians such as Graham intend to ignore serious issues in this country as they continue paying for the ongoing Ukraine conflict.

“What would Ronald Reagan do?” the host asked. “He’d probably vomit if he saw it. But Ronald Reagan is not here to watch Lindsey Graham invoke his name to justify anti-American stupidity.”

Carlson might be an outlier in regard to challenging Republicans on the network. He routinely goes after Graham and others who he has attached to the so-called Washington uniparty.

But the host is not expressing fringe opinions by asking someone such as Graham to justify his support for escalating the potential for a conflict many Americans don’t want any part of.

According to a questionnaire Carlson sent out to declared and potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates earlier this week, Graham is in the minority among Republicans.

Prominent Republicans such as former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and others were each against the country involving itself in overseas conflicts with the economy in disarray and the southern border wide open.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.