US Senate Republican leader blames Tucker Carlson for delaying Ukraine cash — RT World News

Mitch McConnell, the senior Republican member of the US Senate, said that the interview conducted by Tucker Carlson with Russian President Vladimir Putin convinced many. “Ordinary Republicans” That spending billions of taxpayer dollars arming Kiev against Moscow was actually hurting Americans and destroying the American economy.

As a new multibillion-dollar U.S. aid package for Ukraine cleared the last procedural hurdles on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to shift the blame for months of delays onto former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson and former President Donald Trump.

“I think the demonization of Ukraine was started by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, interviewing Vladimir Putin.” McConnell said at a press conference.

“He convinced a lot of Republicans that this was probably a mistake.” He said, arguing that Trump 'Mixed opinions' A decision on aid to Ukraine added to the confusion over the official story in Washington.

“And then it seems like our presidential candidate doesn't want us to do anything at all.” McConnell added. “It took months for us to get over it.”

Carlson scored a long run interview With Putin in February, the first time a Western correspondent had done so since the conflict with Ukraine began, they discussed ongoing hostilities and the standoff between Moscow and NATO.

The exchange went viral globally, with more than 200 million views on X (formerly Twitter) alone, yet critics accused Carlson of not being confrontational enough with the Russian leader. The American journalist said that most Western media lie to their audiences, mainly by omission – and that the point of his interview was “To bring more information to the West so people can make their own decisions.”

He added: “I reject the entire premise of war in Ukraine from the American perspective.” Carlson said last February, looking back on his conversation with Putin: “There is an ongoing war that is destroying the American economy in a way and on a scale that people do not understand.”

President Joe Biden requested additional funds for Ukraine last October after spending $113 billion in previously approved spending bills. However, the request had stalled until this week due to opposition from Republican lawmakers, who argued that Biden was merely prolonging Kiev's conflict with Russia while offering no clear strategy for victory or a peace deal. Most Republicans voted against the aid bill on Saturday, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) crossed his party by enabling a vote on the bill and pushing it through with unanimous support from Democrats.