Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is taking heat after pondering why it would be “disloyal” to “side” with Russia over Ukraine as tensions ratchet up between the two nations.
On Monday, Carlson asked, “Wait a second, why is it disloyal to side with Russia, but loyal to side with Ukraine? They’re both foreign countries that don’t care anything about the United States.”
“Kind of strange,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Tucker: Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine? pic.twitter.com/SX8GtYjDPO
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 25, 2022
Ben Rhodes, the former deputy national security adviser under former President Barack Obama, tweeted, “It’s not about siding with any nation. America is supposed to side with universal values, but the American right now embraces an ethno-nationalism that (like Putin) is hostile to universal values.”
“I don’t ‘side with Ukraine’ I just believe people and nations should have self determination. The Republican Party does not believe that today which is destabilizing to America and the world,” he added.
I don’t “side with Ukraine” I just believe people and nations should have self determination. The Republican Party does not believe that today which is destabilizing to America and the world.
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) January 25, 2022
Check out some of the reactions below:
When Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S. will be unable to leverage a unified response because Republicans are very clearly going to side with Russia https://t.co/x0MVMSwvmj
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) January 25, 2022
Leader of Republican Party backing an authoritarian invasion of a democracy on NATO’s eastern front. https://t.co/Ys7p4gsbPz
— David Rothschild 🌻 (@DavMicRot) January 25, 2022
Serious Question: Why is it disloyal to side with Putin & #TuckumsTheBear but loyal to side with The Constitution? https://t.co/RCrIOSYNWW
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) January 25, 2022
post-Trump, Putin's intelligence services continue to reap high return-on-investment https://t.co/hooEqWATkt
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 25, 2022
“They’re both foreign countries that don’t care anything about the United States,” he argues.
— Will Saletan (wsaletan on Threads) (@saletan) January 25, 2022
In other words, “America First” means “Democracy doesn’t matter.” https://t.co/6Bov1hQgBX
Well just to start shouldn’t we support democracies? https://t.co/Q22ooWdVKr
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) January 25, 2022
There was a time when conservatives cared about democracy and freedom and stood up to dictators and imperialist powers. Miss those days. https://t.co/pXXj3PzHZQ
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) January 25, 2022
On Tuesday, CNN’s Brianna Keilar took aim at Carlson’s comments as she said, “Easy answer there, one is a democracy, the other is a brutal autocracy.”
“The real question here may be Rupert Murdoch allowing this anti-democratic BS on the air?” she added.
Keilar went on, “Tucker Carlson obviously, I mean, he enjoys the freedom of speech. This is America. He can say whatever the heck he wants. But in Russia critics are poisoned, they’re killed. His opinions are anti-democratic.
Carlson’s comments come as the U.S. and other NATO nations are seeking to deter Russia, which has amassed around 100,000 troops on Ukraine’s borders, from launching an invasion of the European nation.
President Joe Biden is reportedly considering sending U.S. forces to Eastern Europe to help bolster NATO allies’ defenses.
Carlson has previously questioned why the U.S. should “take Ukraine’s side and not Russia’s side.”