Tucker Carlson, Agents of Chaos, Spreads Russian Disinformation

Tucker Carlson will be interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a video posted on Twitter, the only site that will host Tucker Carslon’s garbage, he said, “Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now. … Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in and we have the right to tell them about it.” This is the interview we all knew we didn’t need: Vladimir Putin’s side of the story hosted by a liar who was fired from Fox for lying about the lie of a stolen election.

This announcement comes days after being spotted at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport and the Bolshoi Theatre. We lived in Moscow three years. No one goes to Moscow in February for fun. Tucker has long admired the authoritarian governments of Ilham Aliyev and Viktor Orban but Putin is a member of The Big 4, the super villains of the authoritarian league and enemies of democracies everywhere (other members are Kim John-Un, President Xi, and the Ayatollahs). Tucker thinks we need balanced media coverage of the War in Ukraine and as such he is invoking his first amendment rights while justifying his actions through the lens of freedom of the press. Ahhh, yes, freedoms Russia willfully refuses to extend to Russian-American journalists Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva. Like many of the “alternative media” commentators that have emerged over the past two years, Tucker will likely take Putin’s statements at face value. We are sure to hear the tired talking points of the “betrayal” of NATO’s eastward expansion, Ukraine’s secret plans to ready an attack on Russia, Ukrainian Nazi’s led by a Jewish President, Washington’s coordination of the Color Revolutions, and Moscow’s supposed willingness to cooperate with the United States — all concepts that resonate with a small but vocal fringe of conspiracy theorists and the modern Republican party.