Tucker Carlson footage again used by Russia for propaganda

Russia has been hitting out at western media coverage of its invasion of Ukraine over recent weeks for criticising the actions of Vladimir Putin – well, nearly all of the media coverage.

The Kremlin is reportedly very happy for Russian people to watch Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, encouraging broadcasters to air clips back home in Russia.

Mother Jones reported that it had obtained a 12-page document from the Kremlin that instructed state-friendly media outlets to air footage of Tucker’s show last month.

“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 document reads.

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Footage of Carlson’s show has been used for propaganda in Russia ever since, and now the official Twitter account for the Russian Embassy in Turkey posted a clip about him making claims about Ukrainian labs on Thursday.

If you’re unfamiliar with this ongoing row being waged online, the US government has admitted there are a number of “bio lab” facilities in Ukraine funded by Washington that do research on deadly pathogens.

They’re operated from a preventative perspective rather than to create a weapon, but Russia has claimed without evidence the US is developing biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine – and that it discovered efforts to clean up these programmes when it launched its so-called “special military operation”

The US has since denounced the claims, which have been repeated by China, as a case of disinformation from Russia.

However, it’s something which has been seized upon by the likes of Fox News’s Carlson, who has been accused of intentionally implying the “bio labs” have a more sinister side to them. He has denied doing so.

However, his thoughts have reportedly been shared all over Russia.

Julia Davis, who is a columnist for The Daily Beast and Russia media analyst, posted about the use of Carlson's clips on Russian state TV last month, writing: “Not a day without Tucker Carlson on #Russia's state TV.

“Here's another clip being used by the Russians to promote their disinformation about #Ukraine allegedly creating "bio-weapons" in its lab. #TuckyoRose delivers again.”

It comes after Carlson previously accused both Republicans and Democrats of “intentionally seeking war” with Russia, as well as asking viewers to question why they hate Putin.

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