News broke on Wednesday that Fox News host Tucker Carlson tried working through "Russian intermediaries" shortly before he started making explosive claims about being "spied" on by the United States government.
Julia Davis, who conducts analysis of Russian state media for The Daily Beast, noticed on Twitter last month that Carlson was receiving fawning adulation from the Russian press, which praised him for echoing Kremlin talking points about the Capitol riots and also for attacking America's intelligence services.
"I've been telling you guys for quite some time about how pleased the Russians are with Tucker Carlson," Davis observed after seeing the news about Carlson's efforts to score an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. "I guess none of it was coincidental."
Davis then posted several examples of Russian state media heaping praise on Carlson over the last month, including one segment in which hosts gloated over the fact that Carlson recited Putin's arguments about Capitol rioters being politically oppressed.
"We hit the mark," one of them said. "Putin was heard. Bullseye."