A Few Words That Rhyme With Tucker
Carlson willingly played a role in Putin's information warfare operation
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
Last night, Tucker Carlson released the interview he did with Vladimir Putin. In doing so, he willingly played a role in Putin’s communications operation, because make no mistake, that is precisely what this was. There is a difference between journalism and propaganda. Tucker is squarely in the latter category. He is acting as a tool for a war criminal and foreign adversary who has run and continues to run information warfare operations against the United States and our democratic allies.
Pucker
In a video announcing the coming interview, Tucker said interviewing Putin was his job, because he is “in journalism.” Most Americans, he claimed, “have no real idea” what’s happening in Russia and Ukraine “because no one has told them the truth.” He implied no other journalists are bringing Americans the real story, and only he can. He called them “corrupt” and claimed they lie to their audiences.
Quick reminder here: Tucker got fired from Fox News after the network got hit with a defamation suit that cost the network $787.5 million, in part because of texts and emails Tucker sent acknowledging that the 2020 election conspiracies he and others were promoting on air were, in fact, complete and utter nonsense. That is, he was lying to his audience.
Tucker also claimed no Western journalist has bothered to interview Putin. That, too, was a lie. Numerous Western journalists have tried to interview Putin, but they have been turned down. Furthermore, actual Western journalists who have indeed asked tough questions are now in prison in Russia. See: Evan Gershkovich
Putin’s own spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, rained on Tucker’s announcement parade, by saying, actually, no, Tucker is not the only guy who asked for an interview. Lots of people have, we’ve just turned them down because we knew they wouldn’t say what we wanted them to say.
Peskov’s office has received “numerous requests for interviews with the president, but mostly, as far as countries in the collective West are concerned, these are from major network media: traditional TV channels and large newspapers,” Peskov said, adding that such outlets “don’t even attempt to appear impartial in their coverage. Of course there’s no desire to communicate with this kind of media.”
Peskov basically called Tucker a megaphone for Kremlin propaganda. I find it hilarious that the Kremlin, which lies, called out Tucker for his lies, while Tucker was preparing to propagate Putin’s lies. It’s the circle of lies. Tucker probably thought he was scoring points with the Kremlin, but they were quick to throw him under the bus, which is always funny when everyone involved is shitty. Also, Peskov has the best haircut and facial hair of any Kremlin apparatchik.
Let’s remember here that Tucker has repeatedly parroted Kremlin talking points, rooting for Russia to win while denigrating Ukraine and calling it a pawn of the US. He has also consistently sided with authoritarians. Last fall, he interviewed Hungary’s Viktor Orban. During the interview, Tucker made outrageous claims like declaring that Hungary has a freer press than the US (not true) and saying Orban had won in a free election (also not true). It was pretty clear even before the Putin interview was released that Tucker would pucker up to kiss Putin’s ass.
Sucker
One fascinating detail Tucker revealed in his announcement video is this: he claimed the Biden White House illegally spied on his texts and emails because of his plans to interview Putin. This sounds eerily similar to Trump’s claims that Obama’s FBI was spying on his campaign (which was not true).
If, in fact, the FBI has seen Tucker’s communications, either they have a warrant to do so, or they were surveilling a Russian who was suspected of something nefarious and then caught Tucker’s communications with that Russian. Neither option bodes well for Tucker.
Speaking of surveillance…
Russian media outlets were keen to use Tucker as a prop as he toured Moscow this week. They showed him enjoying a performance of the Bolshoi Ballet. One outlet bragged that Tucker was able to charge his phone with a USB and enjoy free wifi. So, in case the Russians didn’t already have all the information on Tucker’s phone, they do now.
One last anecdote: Peskov wasn’t the only one to throw Tucker under the bus. Putin did, too, when he commented during the interview that Tucker had been rejected from the CIA. It’s terrible when you are trying so hard to please Daddy and he reminds you what a loser you are. Sucker.
Fucker
Just to highlight how stupid the whole situation is, look what Sarah Palin, a former nominee for vice president of the United States for christ’s sake!, tweeted:
It would all be hilarious if the consequences weren’t deadly serious.
As I stated at the top of this Rant!, there is a difference between journalism and propaganda. Journalism aims to expose the truth. Propaganda aims to propagate lies. If Christiane Amanpour were to interview Putin, I’d think that was great, because she has a history of challenging her interview subjects and getting at the facts.
Tucker Carlson, on the other hand, has a history of promoting lies. And as expected, Putin used Tucker and his platform to get his lies out to a wider American audience, with no pushback from Tucker. In doing so, Tucker acted as a tool of propaganda for a war criminal and foreign adversary who has run and continues to run information warfare operations against the United States and our democratic allies. For Tucker or anyone else to help promote such information warfare under the guise of “journalism” is both disingenuous and dangerous.
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
UKRAINE
Is Congress Really Going to Abandon Ukraine Now? (The Atlantic)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
All I could think, when I read about where he was going, was that he was going to give them the footage of the Capitol that Comrade Kevin gave him, and what a betrayal of our Country they have all participated in. 💔 I also recall Tucker saying he was being spied on years ago, this article is from early '21, seeing how slow the wheels of justice move I doubt it was Biden administration that initiated it.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/29/media/tucker-carlson-nsa-spying/index.html