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Dear MoveOn member,
We need to talk about Tucker Carlson, John.
Last week, as Vladimir Putin ravaged Ukraine, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was
the most-watched cable "news" show in America, with 3.6 million viewers.^1
Carlson went on his show and again parroted false Russian propaganda—now
also taken up by U.S. right-wing, QAnon conspiracy theory networks—that
the United States is developing bioweapons in secret Ukrainian labs,
providing justification for Vladimir Putin to invade to destroy those
weapons.^2,3
As Putin moved troops to the Ukrainian border in February, 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?"^4
Carlson was telling his viewers that Putin isn't an enemy—but that the
U.S. government, Democrats, and fellow Americans are.
A clip of this segment has now been viewed on Twitter 3.9 million times.^5
Carlson has become the tip of the powerful right-wing media's spear, the
de facto leader of the white nationalist, authoritarian echo chamber, and
we need to fight back.
MoveOn was built more than 20 years ago to be an organizing hub for the
grassroots progressive movement. 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 we need your help. Unlike Fox News, MoveOn relies on small donations
from members like you to fuel it and get its message out to the widest
audience possible. Will you chip in $5 a month so that,
together, we can fight back against the right-wing media machine for the
long haul?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
A leaked Kremlin memo earlier in the war ordered Russian media to use
footage from Tucker Carlson's nightly show to help sell the invasion of
Ukraine to Russians.^6
It states, "It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of
broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson."^7
And right on cue last week, the Kremlin promoted Carlson's latest biolabs
disinformation segment on its media channels and social media.^8
Prior to the Russian invasion, Carlson told his 3.6 million viewers that
it's "not un-American" to support Putin, that the Russian invasion is just
a "border dispute," and that "Ukraine is not a democracy" but a "puppet"
of the West.^9
Since the start of the war, Carlson has been "as obsessed as Vladimir
Putin" with the false biolabs conspiracy theory.^10 His latest? He now
suggests that Hunter Biden is involved in funding the secret biolabs in
Ukraine.^11
John, we have to fight back, get the truth out to the American
people, and defend democracy.
MoveOn's 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 authoritarianism and
defend democracy, and we can't do it without you.
Will you help power and sustain the fight against the dangerous right-wing
media machine by chipping $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, Eric, Evelyn, Jaira, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Thursday, March 31 Scoreboard: Tucker Carlson Tonight Continues to
Hold No. 1 Ranking," Adweek, April 1, 2022
[link removed]
2. "The Kremlin is promoting Tucker Carlson’s false Fox News biolabs
segment," Media Matters for America, March 31, 2022
[link removed]
3. "Analysis: Russia and QAnon have the same false conspiracy theory about
Ukraine," CNN, March 10, 2022
[link removed]
4. "Tucker Carlson Launches Biggest Defense of Vladimir Putin Yet,"
Newsweek, February 23, 2022
[link removed]
5. Tweet by Tucker Carlson, February 22, 2022
[link removed]
6. "Leaked Kremlin Memo to Russian Media: It Is 'Essential' to Feature
Tucker Carlson," Mother Jones, March 13, 2022
[link removed]
7. Ibid.
8. "The Kremlin is promoting Tucker Carlson’s false Fox News biolabs
segment," Media Matters for America, March 31, 2022
[link removed]
9. "Tucker Carlson Hoping We Can Just Forget About All the Times He
Insisted Putin Was the Best," Vanity Fair, February 25, 2022
[link removed]
10. Tweet by Jonathan Karl, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent, March
29, 2022
[link removed]
11. "The truth about Hunter Biden and the Ukrainian 'bio labs,'" The
Washington Post, March 29, 2022
[link removed]
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[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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