How Russia Stooge Tucker Carlson Tried to Bully Mike Johnson
The New Republic (nprofile…6kn7)
Tucker Carlson says he tried to get House Speaker Mike Johnson to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before approving more aid to help Ukraine. In Wednesday’s episode of The Tucker Carlson Show podcast, the titular host and his guest Glenn Greenwald lamented a lack of communication between the U.S. and Russia post–2020 presidential election. In general, they blamed the Democrats, who chilled relations after it became apparent that Russia had meddled on Donald Trump’s behalf.“But it’s the leadership of the Republican Party, too,” Carlson said. “I had a conversation with the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and he was about to appropriate tens of billions more for Ukraine, and I said, ‘Well, why don’t you check with Putin? You’re the speaker of the House, you’re number three in line for the presidency—well what, I’ll see if I can facilitate that? I’ll call the press office, kind of set you up, why don’t you talk to Putin?’”Much to Carlson’s surprise, Johnson refused. “I mean I’m not attacking Mike Johnson—I guess I am attacking Mike Johnson—I don’t know what I’m saying, I’m just reporting what actually happened,” Carlson ranted. “Don’t you have a moral duty to get as much information about this war before you fund its continuation and the killing of all these people? Like, shouldn’t you know more?”It’s unclear exactly when this exchange occurred, though Johnson helped secure bipartisan House support in April to pass $6.1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Carlson seems to think Johnson ought to run his governing decisions past a foreign autocrat before making decisions for the American people—and should speak to the leader carrying out the deadly incursion into another state before deciding to send aid there. Greenwald piped up to say that it would’ve been bad press for Johnson if it had gotten out, but that he “should want to understand the Russian perspective” on its own invasion. Carlson, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, has long pushed his distinctly pro-Russian views. He’s downplayed the country’s conflict with Ukraine and promoted a Russian-based conspiracy theory that the U.S. was plotting to supply Ukraine with bioweapons. (It’s worth noting that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee to head up national intelligence, said something similar.)Carlson appears regularly on Russian state television and once conducted his own televised interview with Putin, during which the Russian president openly mocked him for just what a propaganda tool he had become. Soon, he’ll have the ear of the acting president of the United States, who seems more than willing to seek Putin’s approval, too.
https://newrepublic.com/post/188752/tucker-carlson-mike-johnson-vladimir-putin-russia
Tucker Carlson says he tried to get House Speaker Mike Johnson to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin before approving more aid to help Ukraine. In Wednesday’s episode of The Tucker Carlson Show podcast, the titular host and his guest Glenn Greenwald lamented a lack of communication between the U.S. and Russia post–2020 presidential election. In general, they blamed the Democrats, who chilled relations after it became apparent that Russia had meddled on Donald Trump’s behalf.“But it’s the leadership of the Republican Party, too,” Carlson said. “I had a conversation with the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and he was about to appropriate tens of billions more for Ukraine, and I said, ‘Well, why don’t you check with Putin? You’re the speaker of the House, you’re number three in line for the presidency—well what, I’ll see if I can facilitate that? I’ll call the press office, kind of set you up, why don’t you talk to Putin?’”Much to Carlson’s surprise, Johnson refused. “I mean I’m not attacking Mike Johnson—I guess I am attacking Mike Johnson—I don’t know what I’m saying, I’m just reporting what actually happened,” Carlson ranted. “Don’t you have a moral duty to get as much information about this war before you fund its continuation and the killing of all these people? Like, shouldn’t you know more?”It’s unclear exactly when this exchange occurred, though Johnson helped secure bipartisan House support in April to pass $6.1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Carlson seems to think Johnson ought to run his governing decisions past a foreign autocrat before making decisions for the American people—and should speak to the leader carrying out the deadly incursion into another state before deciding to send aid there. Greenwald piped up to say that it would’ve been bad press for Johnson if it had gotten out, but that he “should want to understand the Russian perspective” on its own invasion. Carlson, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, has long pushed his distinctly pro-Russian views. He’s downplayed the country’s conflict with Ukraine and promoted a Russian-based conspiracy theory that the U.S. was plotting to supply Ukraine with bioweapons. (It’s worth noting that Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s nominee to head up national intelligence, said something similar.)Carlson appears regularly on Russian state television and once conducted his own televised interview with Putin, during which the Russian president openly mocked him for just what a propaganda tool he had become. Soon, he’ll have the ear of the acting president of the United States, who seems more than willing to seek Putin’s approval, too.
https://newrepublic.com/post/188752/tucker-carlson-mike-johnson-vladimir-putin-russia