The Tucker & Tulsi Show: Dems to Blame for Putin’s War on Ukraine

By Kris Parker, October 31, 2022

Former Congresswoman, failed presidential candidate, and self-described surfer Tulsi Gabbard is riding a wave of right wing media attention to a newfound island in the sun, following her official departure from the Democratic Party. 

In a statement filled with melodramatic dog whistles and crude propaganda favored by the right, Gabbard declared that she can no longer remain in the Democratic Party because it: “is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are hostile to people of faith and spirituality, demonize the police and protect criminals at the expense of law-abiding Americans, believe in open borders, weaponize the national security state to go after political opponents, and above all, dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.”

Not surprisingly, her announcement largely won praise from conservative media figures, even if some remain skeptical of her for holding positions typically championed by progressives in the past. Chief among her supporters has been conservative media’s leading ideologue, Tucker Carlson, who has built a career promoting much of the narrative Gabbard parrots in her departing statement.

It’s Biden’s Fault!

One theme that has unified the two recently is criticism of the Biden administration’s response to the Russian war on Ukraine, which Gabbard frames as Democrats  “dragging us ever closer to nuclear war.” Both Gabbard and Carlson have been routinely criticized for repeating Kremlin propaganda.

In a video posted online in February, Gabbard made her position clear. “ Ukraine isn’t actually a democracy,” she proclaimed. “To hold on to power, Ukraine’s president shut down the three TV stations that were openly criticizing him and his policies, imprisoned the head of the opposition political party … and jailed that party’s leaders. This is exactly what Putin has been accused of doing, but Ukraine did this all with the support of the United States.”

While Ukraine certainly has issues, it is considered a democracy, particularly in comparison to Russia. President Zelenskyy did shut down three television stations affiliated with the Kremlin for allegedly spreading disinformation, though this was supported by sections of Ukrainian civil society. The head of the opposition political party was not imprisoned despite Gabbard’s efforts to insist otherwise.

Both Gabbard and Carlson have framed US military aid for Ukraine as participation in a proxy war to overthrow the Russian government, with Gabbard explaining to Laura Ingraham in March, while Russian forces violently advanced across Ukraine, that “Nothing that the Biden administration has done has helped to make this situation better, has helped to deescalate the situation,” and that the actual aim of the U.S. was to “turn Ukraine into another Afghanistan.”

Opportunity Knocks

In a recent conversation with Fox’s Sean Hannity, Gabbard again placed responsibility for the war solely in the hands of the Biden administration, ignoring the Russian role. “If the moral obligation is to do what we can to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people…” Gabbard said. “President Biden has failed to do that. And he has failed the American people, the people of Ukraine, and the world.”

Gabbard’s insistence that the Biden administration is intentionally prolonging the war in Ukraine while doing nothing to prevent further escalation has led to her inclusion on a list maintained by the Ukrainian government of public speakers who are considered to spread Kremlin misinformation. 

The war in Ukraine, like the war in Syria, offers no easy solutions or a route to an immediate resolution, absent a Russian withdrawal. Insisting otherwise, as Tulsi Gabbard does, reeks of an opportunistic attempt to gain partisan clout at the expense of those suffering the consequences of Russian aggression. 

Kris Parker is a journalist and photographer from the U.S. who is currently covering the war in Ukraine. He splits his time between New York and Ukraine.

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