Tucker Carlson Suddenly Blames Putin For Ukraine Invasion

Why did Tucker Carlson suddenly go from Putin apologist to Putin critic? Don’t think for a minute that decency had anything to do with it.

On Tuesday, Carlson said the Ukraine crisis was due to Biden and Vindman Corruption, not Putin

On Tuesday, Carlson openly sided with Russia over the United States in the kind of commentary he’d be apoplectic over if, say, MSNBC host Joy Reid used it to support an African dictator hell-bent on invading Israel.

CARLSON: Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington have told you, you have a patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin. It's not a suggestion, it is a mandate, anything less than hatred for Putin is treason.

Many Americans have obeyed this directive. They now dutifully hate Vladimir Putin, maybe you're one of them. Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America's foreign policy. It's the main thing that we talk about. Entire cable channels are now devoted to it.

Very soon, that hatred of Vladimir Putin could bring the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe. Before that happens, it might be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious: What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle class job in my town to Russia?

More specifically, Carlson blamed a corrupt and senile President Biden and retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a pro-impeachment witness in Donald Trump’s first impeachment heariings, for what Carlson called Russia’s “border dispute” with Ukraine:

CARLSON: Now the main thing to know about Ukraine for our purposes, is that its leaders once sent millions of dollars to Joe Biden's family. Not surprisingly, Ukraine is now one of Biden's favorite countries

…

The administration assures us this has nothing at all to do with repaying Joe Biden's personal debts to Ukrainian oligarchs. Not at all. It's completely and totally unrelated.

…

Alexander Vindman believes you have a moral obligation to defend his homeland, and if you don't, you're a murderer.

…

So your job is to take up arms in defense of Alexander Vindman's home country or else you're evil, you have blood on your hands, and that's effectively our policy.

Two days later, Carlson said the Ukraine invasion is Putin’s fault

On Thursday, Carlson “forgot” all about Hunter Biden and Vindman:

CARLSON: So what is happening in Ukraine, whatever its scale, and it is not totally clear right now, but whatever it is, it is a tragedy, because war always is a tragedy, and the closer you get to it, the more horrifying it seems. It's the ugliest thing that men do -- ever.

Vladimir Putin started this war. So, whatever the context of the decision that he made, he did it. He fired the first shots. He is to blame for what we are seeing tonight in Ukraine.

So what happened? Carlson couldn’t be bothered to provide his viewers an explanation for this supposed change of heart, assuming Carlson has one. The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple said Carlson “bowed to programming realpolitik.” I'm sure that's true. But I also suspect he bowed to paycheck realpolitik.

Carlson’s pro-Putin comments provoked just the kind of outcry that makes it difficult for the Murdoch family to keep up the pretense that Fox is just a “center right” network and not a treasonous propaganda outlet for fascism. Especially when they are already facing two, billion-dollar lawsuits over the network’s Big Lies about the 2020 election. And especially when Russia has turned Carlson into a big hero.

Don't forget, this is the same “anti-vax” Tucker Carlson who is too cowardly to criticize his employer’s vaccine mandate and is even too cowardly to admit he’s vaccinated. Why would he stand up for his principles now? Assuming he has any.

Or maybe Carlson was following the lead of his authoritarian hero Hungary's Viktor Orbán who is also opposing Putin’s invasion.

The one thing we can know for sure about Carlson: If he doesn’t revert to supporting Putin over Ukraine and the U.S., he’ll find another way to wage his propaganda war on America. For profit, of course.

You can watch Carlson change his tune below, from the February 22, 2022 and February 24, 2022 Tucker Carlson Tonight.

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Showing 5 reactions

commented 2022-02-28 23:27:29 -0500 · Flag

I think it’s because the Murdochs travel in global elite circles and with all their friends going anti-Russia, they don’t want their network looking like the Kremlin propaganda outlet that it has become.

commented 2022-02-28 12:58:07 -0500 · Flag

Truth, facts, logic – none of that matters. The only thing that matters to FOX is $$$. The wind is blowing in the direction of “RUSSIA BAD” so it’s time to get on board and act like that’s what they’ve always said, even though we have the receipts and recordings to prove otherwise. FOX says shite to rile up their viewers with their usual white grievance outrage, and it’s all designed to keep said viewers constantly angry and tuning in for more reinforcement of what they believe – that liberals, blacks, women, gays, Latinos, Asians, WHOEVER – is coming to destroy your white way of life.

commented 2022-02-28 05:59:23 -0500 · Flag

I witnessed the same sort of reversal by Hannity a few days ago. though his brief criticism of Putin was followed by a very long, indignant rant against everything the Biden administration was doing: not fast enough, not hard enough, not whatever enough. I got the impression that he actually agreed with the sort of sanctions but stopped short of saying that the alternative was outright war.

These sudden reversals do make me wonder just how badly the financial restrictions are hitting the Murdoch (and other) empires throughout the world. A few years ago I chatted with a stereotypical “nouveau-riche” sort of woman (aka a Trumpian) who said she had decided to learn Russian because that’s where a lot of money could be made. Her husband, who was (she said) a close friend of Trump’s, expected to be at the front of the line to take advantage of the Trump administrations rapprochement with Russia.

Anyway, I’m hoping Putin’s military staff realise that using nuclear bombs is not a viable option for anybody, not even themselves.

commented 2022-02-27 21:37:43 -0500 · Flag

Every once in a while reality breaks through the echo chamber. Lucky for Tucky nobody tunes into his show to hear consistency on anything except hatred of their (liberal) fellow Americans. Making a complete 180 about anything else is not a problem for a chronic liar or his fanatics who are probably bored by anything except their fix of two-minute hate.

commented 2022-02-26 21:02:24 -0500 · Flag

Rome wasn’t demolished in a day. This is further evidence that the whole ugly edifice of Trumpism (of which Fox ‘News’ was the foundation stone) is crumbling at an ever-increasing rate.

Let’s start attacking Fox’s advertisers for being unpatriotic and that awful non-word, ‘unAmerican’.