“That’s when you start to realize that ideology doesn’t matter as much as you thought, corruption? If you take people’s standard of living and you tank it through filth, crime, and inflation, and they literally can’t buy the groceries they want, at that point maybe it matters less what you say; whether you’re a good person or a bad person, you’re wrecking people’s lives.. and that’s what our leaders have done to us, and coming to a Russian grocery store, ‘the heart of evil,’ and seeing what things cost and how people live, it will radicalize you against our leaders, that’s how I feel anyway, radicalized.” Tucker Carlson
When you look at Tucker Carlson, what comes to mind? For me, the quintessential American patriot comes to mind. The man who for years championed Trump’s sentiment of “America first,” preaching it from the pulpit of Fox News to millions of Americans who lapped up his words like literal gospel. On his Fox News show, Tucker propagated the “"great replacement theory”” with claims that Americans were being replaced by hordes of alien invaders from the southern border.
And recently, his America First stance made him despise fellow conservative and right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro for suggesting the US militarily support its ally Israel in its conflict with Hamas. So, it goes without saying that Tucker Carlson is a great American patriot who believes in and holds America above anything else, right? Well, we are about to find out how true that is.
Tucker’s recent visit to Russia and subsequent interview with Vladimir Putin have revealed that Tucker has a new love interest: Russia. Tucker’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin was essentially a two-hour lesson on Russian history in which there was no meaningful pushback by Tucker, who may as well have said, Putin is right; the history of Russia justifies Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin’s history lesson as justification for the war fell flat and revealed the smallness of a man who started a needless war for the sake of his overinflated ego and warped sense of history.
While Tucker was in Moscow, he took the liberty to go shopping to get a feel for what Russian society was like. He made videos that he posted on his YouTube channel. In one of the clips posted online, Tucker begins by claiming that there was Cold War-era propaganda about empty Russian grocery shops and bad products in the US and that, given that sentiment, he wanted to see what a modern-day Russian grocery store looked like two years into sanctions. In the next sentence, Tucker claims that the Cold War propaganda about empty Russian grocery stores was not propaganda but actually true, which makes me ask: was western information about Russian grocery stores during the Cold War propaganda or not? Tucker seemed to have called it propaganda and, a few seconds later, said it wasn’t propaganda. So, which is it, Tucker?
I actually agree with Tucker’s first assessment that the Cold War era in the west and in contemporary times have been riddled with anti-Russian, Soviet, and communist propaganda; ironically, it was Tucker’s side, the right, that has been responsible for such propaganda that he now decries. Now that Russia is becoming the good guys in the eyes of right-wing Americans, how soon will they claim that it was the left that has been responsible for anti-Russian propaganda in the west?
As Tucker toured the shopping mall, he was full of admiration and praise for Russian grocery stores. Even the shopping carts made him giggle like a little boy. Tucker’s effusions over a functioning Russian grocery store made it seem like Tucker had never stepped foot outside the US and was truly amazed that civilization exists outside the US. What was he expecting to find in Russia? Was he expecting to find empty grocery shops or no shopping carts? Was he expecting Russians to be living as though they were cavemen? I bet if Tucker goes to North Korea, he'll find similar things to be impressed by. Would that in itself be an indication of how well North Korea is functioning?
Tucker, near the end of the video, commented on how cheap Russian groceries are and how it has radicalized him against US leaders. He was amazed at how much grocery he could get for 100 dollars. I’m sure Tucker would think many African countries are living in paradise when he finds out how much groceries 100 dollars can buy in these countries. He wondered if ideology or corruption really mattered when people couldn't afford groceries.
In Tucker’s newly radicalized worldview, it doesn’t matter that Russia has a behavior of aggression against its neighbors with territorial grabs; it doesn’t matter that Putin is corrupt; it doesn’t matter that Russia is a dictatorship where political dissent is suppressed and political opponents like Navalny and Prigozihn are killed. As long as groceries are cheap, Russia is a wonderful country that the US should probably emulate.
These are the sort of silly things that impress right-wingers like Tucker Carlson, who is so reductionist and simplistic and who, without taking into consideration the complexities of Russian society, is so full of praise for Russia because groceries are cheap. Tucker’s radicalization is even less impressive when you consider the fact that Russians spend approximately 33% of their monthly income on food while Americans spend only about 11% of their monthly income on food, but I guess 33% is bigger than 11%, so Russia must be doing better.
Charles Ekokotu (Pharm. D.) is a bibliophile, prose fiction writer, poet, and playwright. His first self-published novel, Hotel Shendam—a crime fiction novel featuring a debate on race and colonialism—is available on Amazon. A very fun read! Grab a copy now!
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Is Tucker correct that Russia could be a very powerful ally of the USA and the rest of the free world?