Opinion
An American journalist is going to Russia to interview its president. Just as many have done many times for years because that is literally the job of a journalist.
But this time it’s sinister because it’s Tucker Carlson going.
At least according to CNN and the left.
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‘One of the Leaders of the MAGA GOP is in Moscow tonight’
CNN host Erin Burnett tells her audience, “A massive shakeup in Kyiv coming as Putin is trying to court the MAGA GOP in the United States.”
“In fact, one of the leaders of the MAGA GOP is in Moscow tonight,” she says. “It’s the man you see here with the MAGA leader Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, possibly there in Moscow to interview Putin, definitely there as a Putin-supporting celebrity.”
“Just listen to how Russian state media is breathlessly celebrating his visit,” the CNN host added.
CNN rolls a video of some unnamed Russian guy who says, in translation, “Independent journalist Tucker Carlson who has flown to Russia from the U.S., via Turkey, to Vnukovo Airport.”
“He saw Spartacus ballet at the Bolshoi Theater, had lunch at a nice restaurant, went for a ride around town, road the subway,” the voice says.
And if you’re not sufficiently horrified yet, wait for the next piece of reporting.
The voice said, “He charged his smartphone via a USB port and connected to a fast and free Wi-Fi Internet.”
He CHARGED HIS PHONE! How sinister and newsworthy!
And right on time, the first Burnett says when they end the video and return to her is, “He charged this phone.”
You can’t make this up.
“Although there knowing the details about the fact that it was during USB port may give him reason to think twice about all of this,” she went on, meaning to say Tucker should be skeptical that they knew he charged his phone via a USB port.
“But look at them talking about him like a celebrity, everything he does on camera, breathlessly repeated.”
Indeed – almost like how CNN covers Ukrainian President Zelensky?
“Now, it is unclear if an interview between Putin and Carlson will take place, but if it does, it gives Putin a chance to sit down with a big supporter,” she assures us, playing a February 22, 2022 clip related to the Ukraine conflict in which Carlson asks viewers why he is supposed to automatically hate Putin.
Carlson says, “It might be worth asking yourself since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Does he eat dogs?”
“These are fair questions and the answer to all of them is no,” Carlson adds. “Vladimir Putin didn’t do any of that.”
Carlson said this two days before Russia invaded Ukraine.
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CNN: Interviewing Putin = ‘Putin’s Mouthpiece’
Which Burnett admits, saying to her viewers, “I’ll actually always remember watching that clip. I was standing in Ukraine 48 hours before the war begin there.”
Burnett continued, “Well, Carlson then stood by Putin consistently all the way through. And that is why he can go to Moscow now without any fear of being summarily imprisoned. He’s a hero.”
“This was Putin’s mouthpiece in the United States, somebody who had turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by Putin because they were happening far away,” the host insisted, describing the death and destruction she witnessed.
Nowhere does Burnett give a greater context to what’s happening with Carlson and his visit. From the beginning, Tucker Carlson has said America shouldn’t be involved in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and maybe it wouldn’t have happened if certain US leaders had made different moves, particularly hawkish leaders eager to include Ukraine in NATO.
But it should not be surprising that Erin Burnett and her station didn’t think to explain any of that either.
They are in the business of promoting US government narratives, not reporting from all sides to allow viewers to make their own informed decisions.
You know, what journalists used to do.
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
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