Dear MoveOn member,
A leaked Kremlin memo orders Russian media to use footage from Tucker
Carlson's nightly show to help sell the invasion of Ukraine to Russians.^1
It states, "It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of
broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson."^2
Prior to the Russian invasion, Carlson told his 4.6 million viewers that
it's "not un-American" to support Vladimir Putin, that the Russian
invasion is just a "border dispute," and that "Ukraine is not a democracy"
but a "puppet" of the West.^3,4
Most recently, Carlson has taken up a debunked conspiracy theory, started
on an anti-vaccination website and spread by QAnon, claiming that the
"Biden administration was funding secret biolabs in Ukraine"—which Russian
officials and state media ran with and which they are now using as their
pretext for the assault on Ukraine.^5
John, this is how far U.S. conspiracy theorists and right-wing
media, led by Carlson, will go to undermine President Biden, Anthony
Fauci, and medical science.^6 Their lies are now fueling Putin's
relentless campaign of death and destruction in Ukraine.
We need to fight back against Carlson and the right-wing media machine.
MoveOn's in-house Creative Lab produces powerful videos and other viral
content that directly counters the onslaught of right-wing talking points,
disinformation, and lies. Since its launch, the Creative Lab has produced
thousands of hard-hitting, fact-based videos that have been viewed
hundreds of millions of times.
But unlike Fox News, MoveOn doesn't have billionaire corporate backers.
We're fueled by you, our members. And in this moment, we need you,
John.
If you are able to, will you chip in $5 a month to fight
back against the right-wing media machine?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
It's frankly disgusting to see Tucker Carlson defend Putin while Ukrainian
civilians stand up to Putin in the face of daily shelling, human rights
violations, and a massive invasion.
But the truth is, the far-right white supremacist movement in the U.S. has
expressed admiration for Putin for years. U.S. neo-Nazi leader Richard
Spencer has praised Putin's Russia as "the sole white power in the
world." Following the invasion of Ukraine, white nationalist Nicholas
Fuentes said, "I wish Putin was president of America" and "This is the
coolest thing to happen since 1/6," referring to the January 6
insurrection.^7
Now Tucker Carlson, the #1-rated cable "news" personality, is
mainstreaming this same far-right neofascist authoritarianism into
millions of American living rooms.^8
Prior to Putin's assault on Ukraine, as Putin was moving 190,000 troops to
the Ukrainian border, Carlson ranted, "Why do Democrats want you to hate
Putin? Has Putin shipped every middle-class job in your town to Russia?
Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked your business? Is he
teaching your kids to embrace racial discrimination?"^9
Carlson was telling his viewers that Putin isn't an enemy—but that
Democrats and fellow Americans are.
A clip of this segment has been viewed on Twitter 2.9 million times.^10
MoveOn was built more than 20 years ago to be an organizing hub for the
grassroots progressive movement. Our Creative Lab has created
hard-hitting, fact-based viral videos time and again that get the truth
out to millions of people. But now more than ever, we need to fight
right-wing lies and defend democracy, and we can't do it without you,
John.
Will you help fight back against the dangerous right-wing media machine by
chipping in $5 a month?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mana, Corinne, Justin, Kelly, and and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is "Essential" to Feature
Tucker Carlson," Mother Jones, March 13, 2022
[link removed]
2. Ibid.
3. "Fox News Channel Has Now Spent 20 Years In The #1 Spot On The Cable
News Rankings," Forbes, February 1, 2022
[link removed]
4. "Tucker Carlson Hoping We Can Just Forget About All the Times He
Insisted Putin Was the Best," Vanity Fair, February 25, 2022
[link removed]
5. "Russian propaganda on Ukraine's non-existent 'biolabs' boosted by U.S.
far right," NBC News, March 14, 2022
[link removed]
6. "U.S. right-wing conspiracy theory feeds Russia new excuse for waging
war on Ukraine," The Rachel Maddow Show, March 15, 2022
[link removed]
7. "US Extremists Have Picked a Side in Ukraine: 'Lol Putin Is
Brilliant,'" Vice, February 25, 2022
[link removed]
8. "Tucker Carlson's history of pro-Kremlin, anti-Ukraine propaganda,"
Media Matters for America, March 14, 2022
[link removed]
9. "Tucker Carlson Launches Biggest Defense of Vladimir Putin Yet,"
Newsweek, February 23, 2022
[link removed]
10. Tweet by Tucker Carlson, February 22, 2022
[link removed]
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