Does Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin threaten the Biden administration’s Ukraine War narrative — and others?
Is Tucker Carlson a traitor?
Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger says he is. What makes Mr. Kinzinger think Mr. Carlson is a traitor?
Why, he has travelled to Moscow, which obviously means that Tucker is a Russian spy. Need more proof? He actually interviewed Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia. That really removes all doubt, doesn’t it?
Journalism or Treason?
The sin that Tucker has committed is, we are to understand, quite an egregious one. But he’s not the first journalist to interview Mr. Putin, or other unsavory heads of state. Barbara Walters sat down with Mr. Putin in November 2001, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Oliver Stone did a series of interviews with the Russian leader between 2015 and 2017. NBC News’s Keir Simmons interviewed Putin in June 2021, and in October 2021, CNBC’s Hadley Gamble had a chat with Mr. Putin.
What’s more, all the interviews were held in … Russia.
Traitors all, if one is to apply the deft, unassailable logic of Mr. Kinzinger to Mr. Carlson’s tête-à-tête with Mr. Putin. Ah, but Russia invaded Ukraine, and the United States is supporting Ukraine in every way short of putting boots on the ground, so any kind of contact with the leader of the invading forces is just bad form, to say the least.
Or is it?
It’s not as if Mr. Carlson has been engaging in foreign policy negotiations with Mr. Putin, or undermining the Biden administration’s diplomacy or war efforts in the Ukraine–Russia war, or negotiating with any other foreign leader. At least, none that we know of.
But compare Tucker’s decision to interview Vladimir Putin and his decision to announce it publicly, so that the entire world, and even President Joe Biden, can see what he’s doing, or about to do, with the actions of John Kerry with regard to Iran during the Trump administration.
Mr. Kerry secretly met or communicated with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, undermining the Trump administration’s foreign policy toward Iran, and possibly violating the Logan Act.
If Mr. Kinzinger called John Kerry a traitor for his clandestine meetings with a declared enemy of the United States, it would be good to know. In fact, even the Washington Post noted the lack of outrage at the time Mr. Kerry’s rogue diplomacy was revealed.
By James Gorrie
