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?
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?
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
https://act.moveon.org/go/161304?t=6&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
2. Ibid.
3. "Fox News Channel Has Now Spent 20 Years In The #1 Spot On The Cable News Rankings," Forbes, February 1, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161049?t=8&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
4. "Tucker Carlson Hoping We Can Just Forget About All the Times He Insisted Putin Was the Best," Vanity Fair, February 25, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161044?t=10&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
5. "Russian propaganda on Ukraine's non-existent 'biolabs' boosted by U.S. far right," NBC News, March 14, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161310?t=12&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
6. "U.S. right-wing conspiracy theory feeds Russia new excuse for waging war on Ukraine," The Rachel Maddow Show, March 15, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161311?t=14&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
7. "US Extremists Have Picked a Side in Ukraine: 'Lol Putin Is Brilliant,'" Vice, February 25, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161307?t=16&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
8. "Tucker Carlson's history of pro-Kremlin, anti-Ukraine propaganda," Media Matters for America, March 14, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161308?t=18&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
9. "Tucker Carlson Launches Biggest Defense of Vladimir Putin Yet," Newsweek, February 23, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161312?t=20&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
10. Tweet by Tucker Carlson, February 22, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/161313?t=22&akid=319197%2E40999114%2E4pSaGd
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