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Tucker Carlson defended Vladimir Putin again, suggesting Italy poses a bigger threat than Russia because of its slightly larger economy
jlahut@insider.com (Jake Lahut) - 1h ago
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Fox News
© Fox News
Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Fox News
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night once again defended Vladimir Putin.
He suggested Italy is a bigger threat to world domination because its economy is slightly larger.
Carlson omitted the fact that Russia's annual military spending is more than twice as much as Italy's.
After briefly changing his tune on Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, Fox News host Tucker Carlson was back to defending him on Wednesday night.
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Comparing Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) to that of Italy, Carlson took a leap and suggested the country with an active military force of 340,000 poses a bigger global threat than Russia's roughly 1 million troops on active duty.
"Russia's economy is smaller than Italy's," Carlson said, showing a chart from Visual Capitalist of global GDP broken down by country, similar to a pie chart. "The Italians, in other words, are in a better position to take over the world than Vladimir Putin."
The World Bank puts Russia's 2021 GDP at $1.78 trillion and Italy's at $2.1 trillion.
Aside from Russia also having around 2 million reserve troops — some of whom have already been deployed to Ukraine, according to British intelligence — Carlson omitted the fact that, despite having a bigger economy, Italy's defense budget is three times smaller than Russia's and their annual military spending is half of Russia's, according to a comparison from the Global Firepower Index.
How the Kremlin is trying to make Ukrainian towns Russian, from installing puppet leaders to flying Soviet flags
1 of 9 Photos in Gallery©AP Photo
How the Kremlin is trying to make Ukrainian towns Russian, from installing puppet leaders to flying Soviet flags
Russian authorities are attempting to strip occupied Ukraine of its national culture.
Russia has installed its flags, monuments, and politicians in several Ukrainian cities and towns.
The occupied city of Kherson is even being forced to use the Russian ruble.
Amid the ongoing violence of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin's apparent long game in Ukraine — a nefarious attempt to assert total and long-term control on the neighboring country — is coming into clear view.
From the introduction of Russian currency to the complete shuttering of Ukrainian broadcasting, the Kremlin is taking extreme measures to make Ukrainian towns look, feel, and operate like Russia.
Prior to the start of the war, Putin erroneously claimed that Ukraine was not an independent state, baselessly arguing that the country was a creation of the Soviet Union and part of Russia's historic territory.
Now, as Russia's invasion stretches into its third month, it seems Putin is aiming to make his claims a reality.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The same index puts Russia's military strength in second place behind the US, with Italy ranked 11th out of 142 nations.
Italy is also not engaged in an active war, while Russian troops have been accused of committing war crimes by the United Nations. They have targeted Ukrainian civilians in mass-casualty missile strikes, from a shopping mall in Kremenchuk to a crowded theater in Mariupol, where an estimated 600 people were killed.
Fox News did not immediately respond Insider's request for comment.
Russian state media has used clips from Carlson's show on several occasions to justify the invasion of Ukraine, which, by law, must be referred to as a "special military operation." A leaked memo published by Mother Jones showed Kremlin talking points telling state media outlets to use the primetime host's material "as much as possible."
"It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally," the March 2021 memo advised.
Carlson argued that by virtue of both Republicans and Democrats remaining in favor of providing Ukraine with billions in defense assistance, his viewers should be inherently skeptical and question whether any of it will "improve your life."
"This entire conversation is insane," Carlson said of the bipartisan consensus. "Anyone who takes it seriously is a fool, and anyone who doesn't see the red flags is probably dishonest."
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