Russia’s useful idiot Donald Trump and his fawning adoration of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin for five years turned a large number of formerly “better dead than red” anti-communist cold warriors into Putin-loving “fellow travelers,” giving Putin a “fifth column” of supporters in the U.S., especially at the Fox propaganda network.
The most over-the-top Putin propagandist at the Fox propaganda network is the Proud Boy host of “White Power Hour,” Tucker Carlson. This fascist little prick also loves him some Hungarian fascist dictator Viktor Orban, doing a remote from Hungary extolling how the U.S. would be better off if it was more like Orban’s autocratic Hungary. Conservative Fellow Travelers: Tucker Carlson Drops In On Viktor Orban. (“I came for the goulash, I stayed for the fascism.”)
Why does Russia need its own state media propaganda network, RT, when Rupert Murdoch’s Fox propaganda network is doing its job for them? As I explained years ago, The conservative media entertainment complex is an ancillary to Russian ‘active measures’ propaganda; and (Update) The Conservative Media Entertainment Complex Is An Ancillary To Russian ‘Active Measures’ Propaganda.
Now Russian state television is an ancillary to the Fox propaganda network, airing clips of Tucker Carlson’s “White Power Hour” on Russian nightly news.
Julia Ioffe dissects the common themes between Tucker Carlson’s rhetoric and Russian media. The “feedback loop” is so strong, she says, that it’s hard to tell “the difference between coverage on the main state broadcaster in Russia and Fox News.” ‘Feedback loop’ between Fox and Russian state TV.
Back in December when Tucker’s man crush Vlad began building up Russian forces along the border of Ukraine in apparent preparations for an invasion to “take back” Ukraine out of Putin’s romanticized vision of restoring the glory days of the old Communist Soviet Union (CCCP), Tucker was all too happy to “catapult the propaganda,” as George W. Bush once said.
Business Insider reported, Tucker Carlson justifying an invasion of Ukraine is where he has been heading all along:
Back in his bowtie days [on CNN’s Crossfire], the idea of young columnist and TV pundit Tucker Carlson arguing in favor of a Russian military invasion and against the position of the US and its NATO allies would have seemed far-fetched.
Yet on Tuesday night, Carlson opened his primetime Fox News show with a segment depicting the US as “weak,” siding instead with Russian President Vladimir Putin as the strong and rational actor in the debate over what President Joe Biden should do if Russia invades Ukraine.
Carlson then said there is a good chance of a “hot war” with Russia, arguing that Biden would start a war to salvage his historically low approval ratings; Biden, in fact, said Wednesday he would not deploy US troops to Ukraine.
Going even further, Carlson said NATO only exists “to torment Vladimir Putin,” and that the authoritarian leader “just wants to keep his western borders secure.” [Putin’s exact talking points.]
In reality, Putin has been the aggressor in Ukraine. He “annexed” Crimea (such an anondyne term) and seized the Donbass region by force in 2014 and has fueled the ongoing war waging in its east, and has referred to citizens of Russia and Ukraine as “one people.”
But Carlson’s misleading overture to Putin may have deeper roots in his embrace of white authoritarians who present themselves as strong counters to migration and especially Islamic influence.
Carlson’s misleading presentation completely omitted that Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine catalyzed the tensions with NATO that he’s now using as a pretext to deploy over 90,000 troops (potentially up to 175,000 in the coming months) near the border of the former Soviet republic.
“Putin invented this ‘crisis’ single-handedly,” Michael McFaul, the former US ambassador to Russia, said in a tweet on Tuesday. “Nothing changed in Ukraine. Nothing changed regarding NATO policy.”
After the pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted following mass protests, Putin in March 2014 invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine; it’s now viewed as occupied Ukrainian territory by the international community. Since that year, Ukrainian forces have been engaged in a war with Kremlin-backed rebels in the eastern Donbass region. The conflict has killed over 13,000 people. Russia claims no involvement in the Donbass war, but the West and Ukraine point to evidence of its sent troops and weapons.
The Kremlin currently claims it has no plans to invade Ukraine, but experts warn that it’s a real possibility — particularly given Russia has done so – twice – before. Indeed, Putin’s seizure of Crimea was quite popular with Russians but a larger invasion may not be if more Russian troops are wounded or killed. [Think of the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan.]
Ukraine is “unfinished business” for Putin, Fiona Hill, who served as the top Russia advisor on the National Security Council under the Trump administration, recently told Insider. “One way or another, he wants Ukraine neutralized,” she added.
The Russian leader views NATO’s growing influence in Ukraine as an existential threat, and has warned the alliance against crossing his “red lines” by expanding military infrastructure in the country. But it was his decision to annex Crimea and the Kremlin’s support for rebels in the Donbass region that pushed Ukraine closer to NATO in the first place. Ukraine borders a number of NATO countries, and members of the alliance have provided it with security aid — including weapons.
Carlson’s skewed commentary on Ukraine also ignores the fact that NATO (including the US) is unlikely to go to war with Russia, even in the event of an invasion. Ukraine has strong ties with NATO, but it’s not a member and the alliance is not obligated to come to its defense.
“It is important to distinguish between NATO allies and partner Ukraine,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently said.“NATO allies, there we provide collective defense guarantees,” Stoltenberg said, while underscoring that “Ukraine is a partner, a highly valued partner.”
“If Russia does invade, NATO will not take direct military action against Russia,” Steven Pifer, the US ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, told Insider in late November. “But you will likely see more arms supplies by individual NATO members to Ukraine, and the Alliance as a whole will become even more serious about bolstering its deterrence and defense posture against Russia.”
NATO and the US have warned Russia there would be severe economic consequences if it invades Ukraine, but have not made threats of war.
Carlson also did not touch on the fact that Putin, a former KGB operative, is a ruthless authoritarian who is widely regarded as one of the biggest foes to democracy in the world. [This is why Tucker has such a man crush on him!] Putin does not tolerate any opposition to his rule — the Russian leader’s critics often end up dead or imprisoned — and wants to eradicate Western influence in Ukraine.
Classic Toon, which needs an update:
“The key problem is that Russia denies Ukraine any agency,” Orysia Lutsevych, a research fellow and manager of the Ukraine forum in the Russia and Eurasia programme at Chatham House, told the Guardian. “They genuinely believe that Ukraine is a kind of puppet state … That’s why I believe the situation is so dangerous because Putin is demanding something that Biden cannot give.”
Putin is not the only right-wing authoritarian Carlson has defended or promoted
For some of the global far-right, Putin seems a natural ally. He’s the head of a nation that is predominantly Christian, and a white leader who has ruthlessly fought Islamic militants and promoted himself as an ally in this effort. He even likes to appear at motorcycle rallieswith a hyper-nationalist biker gang.
Carlson’s defense of Putin is in line with this trend.
And in reaching such an outlier position for an American cable TV host, Carlson arrived at his pro-Russia stance not by accident, but by following through to the logical conclusion of his years-long embrace of authoritarian regimes.
He went to Hungary over the summer to tout Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — an authoritarian leader who has enacted harsh xenophobic and anti-LGBT policies in recent years — as an effective model for the Trump movement to emulate.
Carlson has also cultivated a relationship with the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, another authoritarian leader who has described himself as the “Dictator of El Salvador” and “the world’s coolest dictator.” For his FOX Nation streaming show “Tucker Carlson Originals,” he traveled to El Salvador to sit with Bukele for an interview and promoted it on his primetime show.
Much of this shift in Carlson’s politics took place during the tumultuous years of the Trump administration, but it didn’t come out of nowhere.
As Europe appears drawing closer to a major war in Ukraine, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert Uses ‘Russian Stooge’ Tucker Carlson’s Own Words Against Him:
Stephen Colbert has seen an alarming number of right-wing figures siding with Russia as it appears ready to invade Ukraine.
Disgraced former national security adviser Mike Flynn wrote a column not only defending Russian President Vladimir Putin, but using the strongman’s “exact argument.” Or as Colbert interpreted it: “Those who say a man can’t ride a polar bear shirtless deserve poison underpants, nipples were meant to breath. Is that good enough, Vlad? Please don’t release the pictures.”
Too late:
Colbert also highlighted Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has routinely defended Russia during his broadcasts.
“Old Trucker Nuts defended people like Flynn who were rooting for Russia to invade Ukraine for the third time,” Colbert said before rolling a clip of Carlson making the case. “What do you say to someone who makes an argument that dumb?” Colbert asked. He didn’t have to answer because Carlson’s own words did the job for him (segment starts at the 4:52 mark):
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.