Tucker Carlson is drawing a lot of attention this week for comments viewed as supportive of Vladimir Putin. In particular, the Fox News host on Tuesday questioned why "permanent Washington" hates the Russian leader so much, and the pushback against Carlson has been loud. Coverage:
- His comments: “It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about?" Carlson said Tuesday of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He encouraged people to ask themselves, "Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?" Carlson continued with a series of such questions, concluding with, “These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is ‘no.’ Vladimir Putin didn’t do any of that. So, why does permanent Washington hate him so much?” Watch the clip, which has been viewed more than 3 million times on Twitter.
- Elaborating: The snippet was from Carlson's opening commentary, and he wrote an expanded essay here. He refers to the Russia-Ukraine matter as a "border dispute."