# WHat are pro-Putin US commentators saying these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** ukraine-invasion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961 "2022-03-12T23:17:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/1 "2022-03-12T23:17:29Z")
I’ve not seen anything recently. When the war started, Tucker Carlson went on quite fervently in favour of Putin: > **[Tucker Carlson leads rightwing charge to blame everyone but Putin](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-russia-putin)** > > The Fox News host has defended the Russian leader’s invasion of Ukraine, saying ‘Has Putin ever called me a racist?’ How has he and any other pro-Putin US commentators responded? Doubling down on Putin support? Not addressing the war at all? Bakctracking somewhat but still praising Putin? As for the Donald, when he was asked about Ukraine, he started to talk about windmills: [https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia-invasion-windmills/](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/10/politics/donald-trump-ukraine-russia-invasion-windmills/) > [@](#): > > _ **Forgeard** _ _: "What do you see happening next then? 'Cause it seems like the tensions are high. How does this all end? Is this going to be like a long-term thing? How do you see it unfolding?_ > > _ **Trump** _ _: "Well, and I said this a long time ago, if this happens, we are playing right into their hands. Green energy. The windmills. They don’t work. They’re too expensive. They kill all the birds. They ruin your landscapes. And yet the environmentalists love the windmills._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/2 "2022-03-12T23:21:39Z")
I do not follow these commentators nor watch Fox. But I have read that apart from Trump and Tucker virtually everyone else has backed away from public support of Putin. Indeed, even stalwart senator Lyndsey Graham has come out hard arguing the US should be doing much more. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/3 "2022-03-12T23:44:58Z")
You can watch RT (Russia Today) on You Tube. I tried, and found it even more disgusting than OANN or Newsmax. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/4 "2022-03-12T23:56:09Z")
Clay Travis and Buck Sexton, whose talk show replaced Rush Limbaugh, are the most pro-Russian that I’ve heard recently, although more in raising doubts about U.S. support of Ukraine than overt Russian support. Early on they suggested that Russian sanctions were already excessive, and part of a liberal plot to take advantage of the crisis for their own nefarious ends. Also that Ukraine was of no particular importance to the U.S., and we didn’t want to anger Putin because it could lead to WW III, and any replacement for Putin might turn out to be worse. Certainly no U.S. citizen should think of fighting for Ukraine. Later they started promoting the possibility that the U.S. has a bio-weapon lab in the Ukraine, using out-of-context quotes. Later still they decided that the war was all Biden’s fault, because of the poorly organized pullout from Afghanistan. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/5 "2022-03-13T00:58:00Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Indeed, even stalwart senator Lyndsey Graham has come out hard arguing the US should be doing much more. Lindsey Graham is a political contortionist act. He’s about as stalwart as a weeping willow, and as resolute as the Southern Belle he desperately pretends not to be so that he can be accepted by the rest of the GOP. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/6 "2022-03-13T00:59:15Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > > > Indeed, even stalwart senator Lyndsey Graham has come out hard arguing the US should be doing much more. > > Lindsey Graham is a political contortionist act. He’s about as stalwart as a weeping willow, and as resolute as the Southern Belle he desperately pretends not to be so that he can be accepted by the rest of the GOP. Lindsey Graham literally called for the Russian people to assassinate Putin. > Almost everyone excoriated him for that. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/7 "2022-03-13T01:08:44Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Lindsey Graham literally called for the Russian people to assassinate Putin. Follow the money: > **[Top Contributors, federal election data for Lindsey Graham, 2016 cycle](https://www.opensecrets.org/pres16/contributors?cycle=2016&id=N00009975)** > > This page highlights the top contributors to Lindsey Graham for the 2016 presidential election cycle. For more information, click through to the page. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/8 "2022-03-13T01:32:31Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > You can watch RT (Russia Today) on You Tube. I tried, and found it even more disgusting than OANN or Newsmax. In fact, the U.S. arm of RT shut down last week. [https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/media/rt-america-layoffs/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/03/media/rt-america-layoffs/index.html) And, the EU, as well as various service providers, have stopped carrying RT content outside of Russia in the past few weeks. As per Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > On 27 February, the president of the European Commission [Ursula von der Leyen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_von_der_Leyen) announced the [European Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union) would ban RT and Sputnik (plus their subsidiaries) from operating in its 27 member countries.[[280]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-CBS2022-281) The ban resulted in RT being blocked on downstream television networks located outside EU, such as the [United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom) and [Singapore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore) as they were dependent on European companies for the signal feed to RT.[[366]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-367)[[367]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-368) On 27 February, Canadian telecom companies [Shaw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaw_Communications), [Rogers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Communications), [Bell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Canada) and [Telus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telus_Corporation) announced they would no longer offer RT in their channel lineups.[[368]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-369) This move was praised by Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage [Pablo Rodriguez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Rodriguez_(Canadian_politician)) who called the network the “propaganda arm” of Vladimir Putin.[[369]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-370) On 28 February, Ofcom announced they had opened 15 expedited investigations into RT.[[370]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-371) These investigations will be focused on the 15 news editions broadcast on 27 February between 05:00 and 19:00 and will check if the coverage broke impartiality requirements in the broadcast code.[[371]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-372) On 2 March, the regulation was published which meant the ban was in force.[[372]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-373) > > [Facebook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook), [Instagram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instagram), and [TikTok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok) made RT’s and Sputnik’s social media content unavailable to users in the European Union on 28 February.[[373]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-374)[[374]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-375) [Microsoft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft) removed RT and Sputnik from [MSN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN), the [Microsoft Store](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Store), and the [Microsoft Advertising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Advertising) network on the same day.[[375]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-376) [YouTube](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube), on 1 March, banned access to all RT and Sputnik channels on its platform in Europe (including Britain).[[b]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-377)[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-Reuters20220301-9)[[363]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-Kanter-364) [Apple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.) followed by removing RT and Sputnik from its [App Store](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(iOS/iPadOS)) in all countries except Russia.[[376]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-378) [Roku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku) dropped the RT app from its channel store,[[377]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-379) while [DirecTV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DirecTV) pulled [RT America](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_America) from its channel lineup.[[378]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-380) New Zealand satellite television provider [Sky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_(New_Zealand)) also removed RT, citing complaints from customers and consultation with the [Broadcasting Standards Authority](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasting_Standards_Authority).[[379]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-381) [Reddit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit) blocked new outgoing links to RT and Sputnik on 3 March.[[380]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#cite_note-382) > **[RT (TV network) | 2022](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RT_(TV_network)#2022)** > > In January, the State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC) published a report titled "Kremlin-Funded Media: RT and Sputnik's Role in Russia's Disinformation and Propaganda Ecosystem." Its case studies included one on "false narratives" published by RT concerning the Russian military buildup on the Ukrainian border. > Employees and associates of RT and its subsidiary Ruptly in multiple countries, including the UK and Germany, resigned in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, with... ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/9 "2022-03-13T02:06:35Z")
Aware. But when I type, my sarcastic tone transcribes poorly. I am not a fan of certain senators. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/10 "2022-03-13T02:14:36Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > But when I type, my sarcastic tone transcribes poorly. I am not a fan of certain senators. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/RURHj1ObSqk/maxresdefault.jpg "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 - Sovereign Fleet | HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RURHj1ObSqk&t=44s) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/11 "2022-03-13T02:18:24Z")
I could get RT on YouTube last night, but I can’t now. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/12 "2022-03-13T02:24:34Z")
This news story from yesterday indicates that YouTube was about to block RT globally (it sounds like they had already done so in the EU). Sounds like the ban went into effect after you had seen RT on YouTube yesterday. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-11/russia-media-divide-deepens-youtube-drops-rt-instagram-blocked](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-11/russia-media-divide-deepens-youtube-drops-rt-instagram-blocked) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/13 "2022-03-13T02:36:51Z")
The leading Putinist in the U.S. today, DJT, just finished a rally speech, but I can’t find a transcript. However, I think the general claim is that our President is worse than their dictator. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/14 "2022-03-14T06:38:50Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > Early on they [Clay Travis and Buck Sexton] suggested that [ . . . ] any replacement for Putin might turn out to be worse. To be sure, this part is entirely possible. What if the Russian military, or the security people, or the oligarchs, do a coup and send him packing? What kind of dictator might they install in his place? Especially the military. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/15 "2022-03-14T21:06:04Z")
Passing through my daffy landlord’s living room today, the InfoWars commentator said that the Democrats want to get involved in Ukraine to “protect their biolabs and child sex trafficking rings”. So that’s one take. InfoWars is always wrong, of course. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/16 "2022-03-15T02:29:42Z")
I wouldn’t believe InfoWars if they said water was wet. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/17 "2022-03-15T02:40:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I wouldn’t believe InfoWars if they said water was wet. \< drax \>[Alex Jones](https://youtu.be/fzwEul4GEl4) would never drink water. So stupid.\< /drax \> Stranger ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/18 "2022-05-16T20:33:41Z")
More from the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show (who took over from Rush Limbaugh), from an interview with their favored candidate in the Arkansas primary: > **[Senate Candidate Jake Bequette Takes on RINO Election Fraud](https://www.clayandbuck.com/arkansas-senate-candidate-jake-bequette-is-serious-about-fighting-election-fraud/)** > > BEQUETTE: We don't have to have Mitt Romneys and people like that up and down the ballot in every single election cycle. BEQUETTE: So a great example of kind of the dichotomy between the bleeding heart, the beating heart of a grassroots versus the D.C. establishment is this issue over foreign aid in Ukraine, where the Senate’s about to vote to pass this $40 billion foreign aid program to Ukraine. And look, I’ve got no love for the Russian federation but when I talk to voters on the ground here in Arkansas, okay, they don’t care about the territorial sovereignty of, you know, corrupt governments in Eastern Europe. But why are we sending $40 billion to Ukraine, okay, into what is essentially the bloodlands of Eastern Europe, when we have young mothers in Arkansas and across this country who are wondering how they’re gonna feed their babies? So I think that is the disconnect between the voters, the constituents, the people who have boots on the ground, who do the living and dying and working and praying in Arkansas versus their elected leaders in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2022, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-pro-putin-us-commentators-saying-these-days/960961/19 "2022-05-18T19:44:09Z")
Here in the DC area, on the Pacifica radio station WPFW-FM, Garland Nixon has a program called _News Views_ on Friday evenings, where he spreads Putin’s latest propaganda. As an employee of RT, Mr. Nixon gets his marching orders directly from the Kremlin. His assignment is to fuck up the Left with Putinist propaganda. While Dump was in office, Garland Nixon took the side of Dump against the Democrats, which is a bizarre move for a supposed leftist. He predicted that Putin would not invade Ukraine a few days before Putin invaded, all the while justifying Russia’s seizure of Crimea as entirely proper and legal. Once the invasion started, Nixon’s very next broadcast was all about some issue in the DC public schools. Something must have delayed his script from his handlers. The week after that, talking about the invasion, he tried to equivocate and suggest there’s no good guy or bad guy here. This is the same schmuck who insists he’s thinking for himself by being skeptical of American mainstream media, while hypocritically swallowing Putin’s propaganda whole and regurgitating it on air. If anyone calls in and disagrees, Nixon “wins” the argument by talking faster, talking louder, and raising the pitch of his voice. Since the invasion I couldn’t stomach hate-listening to him any more, not after seeing the war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. Garland Nixon is a prime example of the horseshoe theory, whereby the extreme left gets in bed with fascism on the extreme right. All he does on his radio show is shoe horses to bash the rest of the Left that doesn’t support Putin. Garland Nixon is a prime example of how Putin supporters on the hard left are like rotten apples: red on the outside and brown on the inside. For all he gets on my nerves, I’m pleased that nobody else seems to even notice a thing he says.