Propaganda expert explains how Tucker Carlson has become the anti-American parrot of Russian talking points

Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson falsely told Fox News viewers that it's possible that the FBI dressed up like supporters of President Donald Trump and attacked the U.S. Capitol as part of a false flag event. It's the same kind of conspiracy that Alex Jones has been touting about mass shootings starting with Sandy Hook Elementary. Jones was ultimately sued by the parents of the children who died.

"The same people like Kevin McCarthy whose adrenaline was rushing through their cheeks in the wake of the fight or flight response when they huddled into secret locations or could recognize the danger of what they saw in the moment," said host Chris Hayes. "All of the folks, up to and including Mitch McConnell are now running cover for this propaganda."

Speaking to Hayes on Wednesday, history professor and propaganda expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat explained that she is growing increasingly more concerned that the right-wing and Russian far-right are converging on the same propaganda.

"Some of the through lines are the same as the right-wing playbook for 100 years and where the GOP and Russian far-right are converging. One of them is that liberal democracy is a failed system and brings chaos and anarchy and, so, you are trying to build an appetite for authoritarian rule," said Ben-Ghiat. "And another is that liberal democracy is tyranny. So, we hear talk of Biden being a dictator and wanting to impose a dictatorship and he's going to take our guns away and make us wear masks and force-feed critical race theory."

This is the point at which the Republican Party turns to invent or mischaracterize facts to craft conspiracy theories that promote themselves as the saviors.

"So, there you have the GOP which poses — and this is where Jan. 6th becomes an act of patriotism," she continued. "They pose as defenders of freedom. And I'm also concerned about the military. There's a retired military issued a letter where they said our constitutional rights were threatened and the nation was in peril. It's like coup talk. And some of it reminds me of what I used to see in Chile before the coup there. This is all concerning and propaganda connects with violence and it justifies violence. The GOP has become a far-right party using disinformation and violence and renders them acceptable ways of doing politics. This is the bottom line."

See the full conversation below:

Tucker's Russian propaganda machinewww.youtube.com