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Dr. Rashad Richey

National TV Political Analyst, Talk Radio Host, Univ. Prof.

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Opinion

Putin lectures Tucker Carlson, blames US for war in Ukraine

Feb 23

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Tucker Carlson, an American journalist popular with the far right, recently traveled to Moscow to interview President Vladimir Putin about Russia’s war in Ukraine. During the interview, Putin explained his public reasons for the invasion and promised that he had no intention of invading other neighboring nations in Europe. The Russian dictator consistently made similar statements about Ukraine previously–even up to the day before he invaded it in February 2022.

Straight Arrow News contributor Dr. Rashad Richey contends that it is more accurate to call the Carlson-Putin discussion a “lecture” as opposed to an “interview,” and he predicts that Tucker will only continue to parrot Moscow’s disinformation to an increasingly extreme degree over time.

Okay, well listen, it’s bad enough that a political pundit can have a show and become the de facto propaganda minister for a government. But now, these individuals are becoming propaganda ministers for whoever will pay them the most money. Tucker Carlson, at one time, was the de facto propaganda minister for Donald Trump, the apologist-in-chief, I would say. But now, he has decided to hitch his wagon, pitch his tent, and he has decided to cozy up to Vladimir Putin. He just gave what some would call an interview. I call it a lecture. He was lectured to for over two hours.

In this alleged interview, Putin basically read a dissertation to Tucker Carlson. And then this dissertation, which by the way, Vladimir Putin wrote in 2021, you could check it out, in this dissertation, he provides an outline that somehow blames everybody else for the war, rather than Putin himself. Sounds familiar, right?

Let me give you some nuances. It should have been clear that this was already a fixed match, so to speak. I’m sure Tucker Carlson was paid a good chunk of change for this interview. In Putin’s account, the war was actually brought by the United States. Yeah, the war that Russia has decided to launch against the nation [of] Ukraine, well, that war is because of the U.S., that’s according to Putin.

Okay, well listen, it’s bad enough that a political pundit can have a show and become the de facto propaganda minister for a government. But now, these individuals are becoming propaganda ministers for whoever will pay them the most money. Tucker Carlson, at one time, was the de facto propaganda minister for Donald Trump, the apologist-in-chief, I would say. But now, he has decided to hitch his wagon, pitch his tent, and he has decided to cozy up to Vladimir Putin. He just gave what some would call an interview. I call it a lecture. He was lectured to for over two hours.

 

In this alleged interview, Putin basically read a dissertation to Tucker Carlson. And then this dissertation, which by the way, Vladimir Putin wrote in 2021, you could check it out, in this dissertation, he provides an outline that somehow blames everybody else for the war, rather than Putin himself. Sounds familiar, right?

 

Let me give you some nuances. It should have been clear that this was already a fixed match, so to speak. I’m sure Tucker Carlson was paid a good chunk of change for this interview. In Putin’s account, the war was actually brought by the United States. Yeah, the war that Russia has decided to launch against the nation [of] Ukraine, well, that war is because of the U.S., that’s according to Putin. Now, in this thesis, I mean interview, Putin lays out a couple of reasons. He says in 2008, it was George Bush, George W. Bush, who opened the door for Ukraine’s partnership or membership into NATO, which had already taken over many of Russia’s former allies in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2014, the CIA engineered a coup, according to the narrative, which brought to power neo-Nazis, who sent soldiers to other provinces, according to the narrative, where many Russian speakers lived, forcing Moscow to come to their aid.

 

Now, the account is actually fifty percent true, alright. So the parts that are false, however, [are] massively crucial. Let me break it down. It is true that in 2008, at the NATO summit, it was Bush who declared not only Ukraine but also Georgia would become a NATO ally. Alright. He then pressured Western allies to agree there was no timeline set for any of this. What did it really do? It gave Ukraine false hope. And it stoked the paranoia of Vladimir Putin. But once again, this is part of the narrative, right?

 

You see, Putin decided to move because he, according to how he sails the war, did not want to have all NATO allies in such strategic positions. But see, here’s what Tucker Carlson failed to do. If this is true, according to Putin, that means the war did not start under Biden. That’s what this means. And he is saying that he started looking at Ukraine as a possible enemy nation when George W. Bush made the declaration. That means that it is because of a Republican president, a Republican proclamation, and under the nose of a Republican named Donald Trump for four years while he got his military ready to invade Ukraine. You see, Tucker decided not to ask any of these questions that were actually lay ups, easy to understand. So what is the next move? Tucker will now convince you that Vladimir Putin had absolutely no choice. All you have to do is read between the lines.

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