Fox News host Tucker Carlson said that the United States should back Russia instead of Ukraine just days after he claimed that he was “joking” when he said he was rooting for Russia against Ukraine.
Carlson took issue with NBC News host Chuck Todd calling out Sen. John Kennedy for pushing the same arguments as Russian President Vladimir Putin when he claimed that Ukraine “actively worked” for Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Kennedy said on “Meet the Press” that Ukrainian officials were “meddling in our election.”
Todd said that intelligence officials recently briefed lawmakers that attempts to frame Ukraine for Russian election meddling was “a Russian intelligence propaganda campaign in order to get people like you to say these things about Ukraine.”
“Russia was very aggressive and they’re much more sophisticated,” Kennedy said. “But the fact that Russia was so aggressive does not exclude the fact that President Poroshenko actively worked for Secretary Clinton.”
“Actively worked for Secretary Clinton?! My goodness, wait a minute, Senator Kennedy,” Todd declared. “You now have the president of Ukraine saying he worked for the Democratic nominee for president. C’mon. You realize the only other person selling this argument outside the United States is this man, Vladimir Putin!”
Carlson says Putin is better than Todd:
Carlson declared on his show that “Russia didn’t hack our Democracy” and that Russian election interference wasn’t “really a story.”
“The whole thing was a talking point—a ludicrous talking point—invented by the Hillary Clinton campaign on or around November 9, 2016, to explain their unexpected defeat in the last presidential election,” he said.
Carlson said Todd went “full Joe McCarthy” on Kennedy.
“What makes Vladimir Putin worse than, I don't know, a whole long list of American allies?” Carlson wondered. “For Chuck Todd and the rest of the dummies, Vladimir Putin isn't a real person with actual ideas and priorities and a country and beliefs…. the irony, of course, is that Putin, for all his faults, does not hate America as much as many of these people do. They really dislike our country. And they call other people traitors?”
“I should say for the record that I’m totally opposed to these sanctions and I don’t think we should be at war with Russia,” he later added. “We should probably take the side of Russia if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine. That's my view.”
Carlson claimed past Russia praise was a joke:
Last week, Carlson said he was rooting for Russia over Ukraine.
“Why do I care what is going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia?!” Carlson said. “And I’m serious. Why do I care? Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Which I am.”
Toward the end of his show, he claimed that he was just kidding.
“Before we go, earlier in the show I noted I was rooting for Russia in the contest between Russia and Ukraine,” he said, “Of course, I’m joking. I’m only rooting for America—mocking the obsession with Russia many on the left have. Ha!”
