Carlson interviewing Putin reflects the new (Trumpian) norm

Alas, we live in an America that now blithely tolerates treason. Only that explains American Tucker Carlson traveling to Moscow to interview America’s foreign enemy No. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, has interviewed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, a sign that the Russian leader is seeking to make a direct appeal to American conservatives as US aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance. …

Mr. Carlson, whose show appears on X, did not specify the timing of any upcoming interview. It would be Mr. Putin’s first formal interview with a Western media figure since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and his first with an American outlet since he spoke with CNBC in 2021.

(The New York Times, February 7, 2024)

But Carlson’s stunt is a symptom of a disease former President Donald Trump injected into the American body politic. Notably, Trump was the first president in US history to incite an insurrection to prevent the peaceful transfer of power. But he spent his four years defiling American democracy by fawning over autocrats like Kim Jong-un of North Korea, Xi Jinping of China, and, of course, Putin of Russia. 

Trump’s willful breaking of all political norms set the stage for what we’re witnessing today: The end of political civility and the normalization of treasonous behavior – with nary a concern for the general welfare or national security.

Carlson in Moscow: treason masquerading as journalism

Nothing betrays his treasonous intent quite like Carlson scolding Western journalists for refusing to report from Russia. After all, reporter Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal is one of 20 Western journalists now wasting away in Russian prisons for daring to report the truth about Putin’s Russia. 

This is why Carlson is arguably a modern-day “Axis Sally.” She, of course, is the American woman who became infamous for broadcasting Nazi propaganda from Germany during World War II.

After the war, American authorities captured her. And, unsurprisingly, they duly prosecuted and convicted her of treason. 

Granted, America is not at war with Russia. But there’s no denying that the way it’s helping Ukraine fend off Russian aggression is similar, in spirit and substance, to the way America helped Britain fend off German aggression during the early days of WWII.

The US has issued a travel advisory warning Americans against traveling to Russia. But, with Carlson aiding and abetting the enemy so openly, President Biden should ban all Americans from traveling there, especially in light of Russia’s gaslighting travel ban on 200 Americans, including a few of Biden’s relatives.  

Of course, there’s nothing new about Carlson broadcasting Russian propaganda. After all, he made doing so a feature of his top-rated cable show for years on Fox News.

Except that now he’s brazenly crossing the line between reporting facts and propagating propaganda. But I cannot overstate that he’s merely aping the way Trump normalized crossing the line between facts and propaganda. And the danger afoot is exponential given that Putin’s habitual lying and gaslighting make Trump’s look accidental.

Putin’s puppets: from Trump to Carlson

As a former KGP operative, Putin has an uncanny knack for identifying and exploiting “useful idiots.” Trump’s performance in Helsinki, where he tossed American intelligence under the bus, was a masterclass in puppetry. Even Putin couldn’t help grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Because it was self-evident that Trump made him prouder than he’d ever been of any of his puppets.

Now, it seems Carlson is trying to one-up Trump. And, thanks to Trump’s trailblazing treasonous behavior, Carlson couldn’t care less that he’s undermining America’s efforts to help democratic Ukraine fend off autocratic Russia. Especially given that Trump has declared his intent to end all aid to Ukraine if he’s reelected president. 

But, in Putin’s twisted game of international chess, Trump and Carlson are nothing but pawns, or as the Russians might say, “poleznyye idioty” (useful idiots). But, as useful idiots go, Carlson makes Edward Snowden look like a clueless sap.

Carlson is playing a dangerous game

Carlson is almost as notorious for his racist, antisemitic, norm-breaking rhetoric as Trump. Even so, two things should have rendered even the idea of interviewing Putin unthinkable: 

1. The US became Ukraine’s chief ally after Russia invaded in February 2022; and
2. Fox fired Carlson in April 2023 after his Trumpian election propaganda cost it $787 million in a historic defamation lawsuit. 

But, thanks to Trump, Carlson is doubling down on his Trumpian and Russian propaganda. And this speaks volumes about the normalization of treasonous behavior in America. But his platforming Russian propaganda right from the horse’s mouth threatens the very fabric of American democracy and international stability. 

Not to mention the danger that portends with the Republican Party becoming little more than a Trumpian cult. This has its members refusing to enact legislation to secure the southern border, which they once championed as critical, just to give Trump a campaign talking point. 

Meanwhile, the world looks on in utter bewilderment at these latest acts in the theater of the absurd that is American politics. And they must wonder: what comes next as America hurtles from Jeffersonian norms into Trumpian dysfunction.