Bias Watch

Russia & China are broadcasting Tucker Carlson’s show as anti-American propaganda

ESZTERGOM, HUNGARY - AUGUST 07: Tucker Carlson on stage before his speech during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. The multiday political event was organized by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a privately managed foundation that recently received more than $1.7 billion in government money and assets. The leader of its main board, Balazs Orban, who is also a state secretary in the prime minister's office, said MCC's priority is promoting "patriotism" among the next generation of Hungary's leaders. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
ESZTERGOM, HUNGARY - AUGUST 07: Tucker Carlson on stage before his speech during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. The multiday political event was organized by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a privately managed foundation that recently received more than $1.7 billion in government money and assets. The leader of its main board, Balazs Orban, who is also a state secretary in the prime minister's office, said MCC's priority is promoting "patriotism" among the next generation of Hungary's leaders. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images) Photo: Getty Images

Fox host Tucker Carlson, the white supremacist talking head beloved by the far-right network, has become a willing tool for communists and dictators.

Russia and China are both broadcasting his show as anti-American propaganda, according to a leaked Kremlin memo.

Related: Daddy issues: Why Putin is being worshipped by the American right

The internal memo leaked to Mother Jones instructs: “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally.”

Carlson has taken his show on the road to Hungary where he praised the authoritarian dictator who invited him. He has also said that he considers Putin a member of his team, saying  “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia? Because I am!

And he dismissed what he considered the hyperbole over Putin’s intention to gobble up more territory stating, “Whatever [Putin’s] many faults, [he] has no intention of invading Western Europe.”

The hashtag #TuckyoRose quickly took over Twitter yesterday as the news broke. The tag is a portmanteau of Tucker and Tokyo Rose, the Japanese women who spread misinformation to American soldiers during World War II.

Carlson has promoted the conspiracy theory that Russia’s invasion is based off non-existent American bio labs inside Ukraine and NATO aggression. Neither are true and both have been specifically cited as Russian propaganda. Chinese media has also been talking up the baseless accusation.

And now both countries are using Carlson’s own authoritarian bent for their own purposes. They’ve deemed him a “useful idiot.” The Russian phrase refers to a person perceived as a beneficial mouthpiece for policies they do not fully understand, and who are contemptuously exploited by leaders for a goal or cause.

Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman summed up the general feelings with his tweet, “Live your life in such a way that the Russian government and state tv apparatus doesn’t think you’re an ally.”

But with the hashtag trending, others quickly joined in the castigation of the host Fox can’t quit – despite his odiousness. And the network also came under fire by Americans tired of hearing the network repeatedly broadcasting communist propaganda.

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