Tucker Carlson has compared Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s warm welcome from Congress to the applause universally commanded by Joseph Stalin, contrasting clips of the two leaders during an impassioned tirade on Thursday.
Carlson criticized the House of Representatives for “clapping like seals” during Wednesday’s speech and accused both Democrats and Republicans of blindly supporting Zelensky’s call to stand against Russian aggression.
Carlson’s game – which aired on his program of the same name – came after the notoriously conservative commentator accused Zelensky Wednesday of dressing like a “strip club manager who demands money” – while ignoring the US’s own border problems.
The on-air tirade lasted more than 20 minutes and saw the 53-year-old Carlson compare the Ukrainian leader to the longtime leader of the Soviet Union and aired a clip of his last speech to the Kremlin-Congress equivalent in 1952.
The short clip — shown right after a clip in which Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and hundreds of others frantically applauded Zelensky — showed a similar reaction to the Russian dictator putting his own people in prison camps. In Stalin’s Soviet Union, failure to applaud the leader was often considered treason.
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Tucker Carlson has compared Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s warm welcome from Congress to the applause universally commanded by Joseph Stalin, contrasting clips of the two leaders during an impassioned tirade on Thursday
Carlson criticized the House of Representatives for “clapping like seals” during Wednesday’s widely publicized speech, and accused both Democrats and Republicans of backing Zelensky’s call for increased American aid. He has already received $68 billion but wants $37.7 billion more
Before making the comparison, Carlson – already hailed as a hero on Russian TV for his criticism of Zelenskyi, who has already received $68 billion from the White House but wants another $37.7 billion – began his comparison by saying denounced both parties, noting how they clapped “like seals” after hearing him speak as leader.
“But here’s the interesting thing,” Carlson continued. “Almost every person in the room clapped like a seal.”
He continued: “No matter what this man said – ‘Send me more money; I command you, send me more money! We take care of it in the most responsible way,” they applaud. All of them. Almost like they have to.”
Carlson then marveled that despite the 435 members of Congress, ranging from the most inactive Democrats to the most combative Republicans, no one dared question Zelensky’s appeal for more funding.
“Now there are 435 members of the House of Representatives — Republicans and Democrats — and [they] as is well known, they do not understand each other and do not agree on anything. They can’t even pass a budget because they don’t agree on everything.’
“And yet,” Carlson continued, “when a foreign leader in cargo pants shows up to tell them lies and give them orders, they all applaud. That’s pretty strange behavior in a democracy when you think about it.
The on-air tirade lasted more than 20 minutes and saw 53-year-old Carlson compare the Ukrainian leader to the longtime leader of the Soviet Union, while also airing a clip of his final speech to the Kremlin Congress, which matched him in 1952.
The short clip — shown right after a clip in which Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and hundreds of others frantically applauded Zelensky — showed a similar reaction to the Russian dictator putting his own people in prison camps
The announcer went on to sarcastically accuse the media of creating such divisions themselves – before questioning the US’s own idea of democracy.
“The ambiguous debate we hear so much about doesn’t exist,” Carlson noted. “And actually when I looked at the screen last night it didn’t really look like a democracy to be honest. It looked like.’
The broadcast was then cut to an excerpt of Stalin’s last speech before he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
In Stalin’s Soviet Union, failure to applaud the leader was often considered treason
The Soviet leader – who struck terror into the hearts of tens of millions of Russians with his secret KGB police during his oppressive 29-year rule – says in the short clip, translated from Russian: “It is well known that this is precisely the case is our party does it.”
At this point, the members of the Supreme Soviet – the presiding body of the communist nation apart from the dictatorship – unleashed a deafening applause, a response that was common at the leader’s many speeches.
Carlson continued to mockingly mimic the congressmen’s applause, mimicking what they might have been thinking during Zelensky’s speech.
“Woohoo, good point sir; We’re so glad you’re here,” Carlson said, feigning applause with a simple expression on his face.
The comments came after the president of war-torn Ukraine finished his address to Congress, in which Carlson expressed his surprise that “no one kicked him out of the event because of his casual wear.”
The comments came just over 24 hours after the war-torn nation’s president finished his address to Congress, to which Carlson noted his surprise that “no one kicked him out of the event because of his off-duty attire,” suggesting that he should have worn a suit instead.
Ever since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Zelenskyy has made a point of continuing to wear his war clothes.
He was seen emerging from a bunker in Kyiv almost every night wearing the same style of clothing while also wearing it to visit soldiers at the front to boost morale.
Zelenskyy has not wavered and even wore the same khaki outfit when addressing the United Nations, the G20 and during visits by other foreign dignitaries – including presidents and prime ministers – to Ukraine.
Carlson showed Stalin’s speech Thursday night right after a clip of Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and hundreds of others frantically applauding Zelensky
This was in stark contrast to Putin, who can often be seen in a suit in his presidential palace, speaking only to a small circle of advisers and rarely appearing in public outside his walls.
The attacks on Zelenskyy came after a pandemic-era US federal immigration policy – known as Title 42 – expired, allowing an influx of migrants into the country.
The visit also came as US politicians will vote on a year-end spending package that includes about $45 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. The United States was by far the largest donor to Ukraine, sending $64 billion in arms and equipment. Germany is the second largest at just $2.34 billion.
Carlson said, “The President of Ukraine arrived at the White House dressed like a strip club manager and demanded money and amazingly nobody kicked him out.”
Congress will decide on a targeted spending package that would inject another $37 billion into the eastern European country.
Meanwhile, the US grapples with a crisis at its own border as President Joe Biden seeks an end to Trump-era Mandate Title 42, prompting mass conversions of asylum-seekers in Mexico.
Guidelines to contain the spread of COVID-19, passed by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, allow border officials to more easily turn migrants away at the southern border. It expires on December 27th.