Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) reportedly criticized conservative commentator Tucker Carlson on Tuesday for strongly opposing the idea of providing military assistance to Ukraine.
McConnell argued that Carlson’s actions aligned with his true beliefs when he conducted a flattering interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, effectively giving him a platform to spread his message.
“I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which was interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell remarked acidly.
“He convinced a lot of rank-and-file Republicans that maybe this was a mistake,” he continued bitterly.
Putin exerted significant control over the discussion with Carlson, leaving him with limited opportunities to offer questions, while he digressed on topics such as Russian history, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the menace of Soviet expansion.
The Russian president then criticized the interview, stating that he did not derive full gratification from it due to the absence of challenging inquiries.
Carlson has emerged as a prominent detractor of American participation in the war even before his departure from Fox, and his influence on Republican perspectives toward the war seems to have been substantial, as acknowledged by McConnell on Tuesday.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican party, informed Carlson one year ago that the war did not constitute a crucial concern for the nation.
Carlson has since left Fox and started his own popular program, which airs directly on X (formerly known as Twitter).
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