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Russia and Ukraine held peace talks this week in Istanbul that some say offered optimism for a possible end to the bloody month-long war. It will be interesting to see what some of the most prominent Republican voices in the country, like Tucker Carlson and former President Donald Trump, have to say about it.
I specifically mentioned those two because they are the two most influential voices in the conservative movement, and both have taken the stance of supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin since he ordered his military into Ukraine unprovoked.
You may not have noticed if you make the sensible choice and do not watch Fox News or other right-wing propaganda outlets like Newsmax, but don’t worry. I keep an eye on the conservative echo chambers so you don’t have to. And early on, Tucker praised Putin. Even well before the invasion occurred, the host of Fox News’ most popular show said he was on Putin’s side in any conflict with Ukraine.
Trump called Putin ‘smart’ for invading Ukraine, on more than one occasion. He’s actually been singing Putin’s praises for quite some time. But things started to change once it became clear they, along with others like Tulsi Gabbard, were on the wrong side of this international situation. Public sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of Ukraine, and that country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has become something of a global hero for his war-time leadership. The consensus is that Putin overplayed his hand with the invasion, and left Russia on an island.
So what did these right-wing propagandists do? They switched the script.
One way has been to focus on supposed bioweapons labs in Ukraine, supported by the United States.
And often with these, what makes these conspiracy theories so pernicious and so sticky is that there’s a kernel of truth. And I’ll tell you what that is. We, we shouldn’t deny that there’s a kernel of truth.
Are there biolabs in Ukraine that research dangerous pathogens and how to respond to a bioweapons attack? Yes, there are. They are there. Are they unique to Ukraine? No, they’re all over Europe. They’re all over the world.
Are they supported by an American program through the Department of Defense? Yes. Not unique to Ukraine either.
Do they justify Putin’s invasion? Of course not.
They’re not trying to justify it–not really. They want to change the conversation and pretend to their audience that what they actually said before is just liberal spin. The worst part of it isn’t the dishonesty of it all. It’s that it is all simply a clickbait scheme. They’re out for attention, views, and clicks. As I’ve said before, the Republican Party no longer has a platform other than to “own the libs.”
The support of Putin and his vicious campaign in Ukraine may be the worst instance yet.
