Monday night Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson outright lied on-air, attacking Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell who accused him of supporting Vladimir Putin and his unlawful war of choice against Ukraine.
Carlson astonishingly denied this was true, brilliantly defusing what countless Fox News viewers heard – both him defending Putin and his war on Ukraine, and that the Kremlin was using those words on Russian TV to defend Putin.
First, here’s how Snopes describes the pro-Putin propaganda Carlson created:
Carlson spent a number of segments criticizing U.S. President Joe Biden and the Ukrainian government, and then often defending Putin, clips that have become fodder for Russian television. On Feb. 17, 2022, for example, he said:
And of course, they’re promoting war, not to maintain the democracy that is Ukraine. Ukraine is not a democracy. It has never been a democracy in its history and it’s not now. It’s a client state of the Biden administration. It’s a place in which opposition media and opposition political candidates are completely shut down by the government. Is not a democracy at all. And it’s insulting they would suggest otherwise.
Here’s the clip Carlson denies exists:
And here’s Carlson Monday night, showing Congressman Swalwell telling the truth, and Carlson falsely calling it a lie.
Here’s how he lied:
“You know it’s such an awful thing to say,” Carlson told his loyal viewers, apparently trying to sound innocent and honorable. “We hesitated, even, to play that.”
And then he adds this piece of gaslighting: “It’s very common, you hear it every day.”
You “hear it every day” because it’s true, as the clip above shows.
Finally, for those who need even more convincing, here’s Carlson on Feb. 22, right before Putin started bombing Ukraine:
The media has been all over Fox News and Carlson for his pro-Putin propaganda, now that Ukraine appears to be beating the pants off Russia. Here are a few stories:
“Tucker Carlson Hoping We Can Just Forget About All the Times He Insisted Putin Was the Best”
(Vanity Fair)
“Late Night Hosts Rip Tucker Carlson’s Segment Praising Putin — Which Was Later Played On Russian TV”
(Deadline)