One would not have thought it possible. Ever since the financial connection between the NRA and Russia was exposed, and then Trump’s obvious – obvious – subservience to Russia, one didn’t need to be a CIA agent or FBI counter-intelligence officer to know that there are some prominent Americans that act in every way as though they are Russian assets, Trump, Cawthorn, Tulsi, Greenwald, and – of course, the man who is played on Russian television as propaganda, Tucker Carlson. They make it embarrassingly obvious.
One would think that when one hears that Russian state television uses your show as propaganda, it is time to take stock. But Tucker pushes on.
Two nights ago, Tucker had Tulsi Gabbard on, only to hear Tucker support Gabbard when she said:
“They are doing so by waging this modern-day siege against Russia, isolating, containing, destroying their economy, starving the Russian people in the hope that the Russian people or the military will rise up and revolt and overthrow their government and get rid of Putin.”
Yes. So?
The Russians are lucky it’s only that. Have your Russians pull out of Ukraine, see what happens to that seige. Gabbard’s premise is that Putin has no agency in this, the tanks drove themselves, he was attacked first, something.
But Russia is experiencing exactly what happens when fascist governments line up the tanks and invade peaceful democracies and then bomb civilians in a holocaust. It takes a president like Biden, who is not a Russian asset, to galvanize the world to do something about it. Tulsi might as well be explaining why it was wrong to go to war with Germany. She then warned gravely that Russia might be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons and then real ones to protect the Russian state. Tucker nodded, understanding.
You don’t need to guess as to whether Gabbard is an asset. The Russians admit it. :
Meanwhile on Russian state TV: Another translated clip of Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard, introduced by state TV host Vladimir Soloviev as “Our girlfriend Tulsi.”
After the clip plays, one panelist asks: “Is she some sort of a Russian agent?” The host quickly replies: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/VVNGmtjavU
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) March 31, 2022
So it should come as no surprise that last night, Tucker pounded on a variation of the same theme. Get people’s minds and sympathies off Ukraine. Here is Tucker from last night, and when he references primarying McConnell’s priorities, he means McConnell’s position on more aid to Ukraine. Tucker, you see, thinks Ukraine’s had plenty of aid. Transcript from Media Matters:
You got to hope that there’s some sincere billionaire out there who’s going to fund a primary challenge against every single one of those Republican senators standing by Mitch McConnell as he said — and we’ll quote again — “I think we all agree the most important thing going on in the world right now is the war in Ukraine.”
No. The most important thing your country, the one you’re supposed to run. The people you’re supposed to represent whose lives you’re supposed to care about.
The keyword there is “world.” And without a doubt, from a global perspective, the war in Ukraine is the most important thing going on in the world right now. It is also driving some of the most painful things here at home, including everything from the price of gas to the fate of classic western liberalism. There is no contradiction in McConnell’s words.
But who would’ve thought it possible that certain Right-Wing politicians can be so obviously Russian assets and just… continue on as if it’s not an issue. Russian state television calls Gabbard an asset. Russian state television plays clips of Tucker. Russia has also said it is time to begin preparations to get Trump re-elected in 2024. So much of modern MAGA America depends upon moderate Republicans and Democrats’ willingness to suspend belief and pretend this isn’t happening.
But you cannot pretend if you watch Tucker, listen to Trump, or know Cawthorn’s story. It is happening. Some just like it, and that should worry us.
Jason Miciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, while also studying scientific philosophy, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact for speaking engagements or any concerns.