Right-wing mouthpiece Tucker Carlson is apparently a key figure in disseminating misinformation about Russia’s attack on Ukraine to the Russian people.
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According to documents obtained by Mother Jones, the Kremlin informed state-run media that it was “essential” to use as many clips from Carlson’s show as possible to keep Russians believing that their country is on the right side of this war.
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“Tucker Carlson…sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATAO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” the memo reads.
Mother Jones allegedly received the document from a contributor to one of the media organizations that received it, and said it appears to have originated from the Department of Information and Telecommunications Support, a Russian government agency.
It appears to be a part of the larger push from the Russian government to convince its citizens that they invaded Ukraine to save its people from fascism and preemptively prevent nuclear strikes — positions that are not backed up by fact.
Meanwhile, Carlson has indeed seemed to support Russia through this conflict, once again using his platform to push misinformation and cheer Putin on.
Those in the United States who listen to Carlson are already primed to believe him regardless of whether anything he says is based on fact, overblown fearmongering, or pure propaganda.
Because of that, for everyone else, the idea that Russia would use Carlson to push their agenda both makes sense and is a brutal indictment of just how dangerous the Fox News host is — and how he absolutely cannot be counted on as a legitimate news source. Not that that’s news to anybody paying attention.
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He is now siding with Russia over the Pentagon in the middle of a war!
— Amy Siskind
(@Amy_Siskind) March 10, 2022
Madison Cawthorn called President Zelensky a thug and said the Ukrainian government is evil.
Tucker Carlson is broadcasting Russian and Chinese propaganda on his shows.
Trump literally just fawns praise over Putin.
Who do these Republicans represent?
— Really American
(@ReallyAmerican1) March 10, 2022
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But capitalism is king, Carlson brings in ratings, and Fox News has gone to bat for him time and time again, so as long as the American people keep tuning into Carlson’s propaganda, he’ll continue to have a platform. That it seems to be one Russia can use to their own nefarious ends has always been inevitable.
*First Published: March 15, 2022, 5:42 am
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