‘It’s evil’: Tucker Carlson claims ‘Satan’ is running White House policy towards Ukraine

One of the world’s most influential right-wing broadcasters had made the extraordinary claim that “Satan” is running US policy.

The powerful right-wing broadcaster Tucker Carlson has taken his longstanding anti-Ukraine rhetoric a step further, suggesting the United States’ continuing aid for the nation as it defends itself from Russia’s invasion is evidence that the White House is being run by “Satan”.

Mr Carlson, formerly a TV host at Fox News, now has a following of millions on less traditional media, including YouTube and Twitter. He retains a significant degree of influence on the American political right.

He has long opposed Western military aid to Ukraine, which has been seeking to repel an invasion of its sovereign territory by Vladimir Putin since February of 2022, relying largely on help from the United States and Europe.

Mr Carlson has been accused of acting as an apologist for Putin, and has repeatedly spread false claims about Ukraine that align with those put forward by the Kremlin.

He frames himself as someone who is simply against American intervention overseas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Picture: Attila Kisbendek/AFP

Speaking to the podcast Redacted on Monday, Mr Carlson said he previously would have suggested US policy was being dictated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the equivalent of our foreign minister.

But the US government’s decision, a few days ago, to allow Ukraine to use antipersonnel landmines against Russian troops led him to intensify that theory.

“Who the hell is running the White House? I mean, I know you’re humble about this, but you’ve got amazing sources there. Biden is not – who is running the White House, who is our de facto president?” asked host Clayton Morris.

“Well if you’d asked me yesterday morning, I would have said Tony Blinken, who has been running it since the beginning. But now I would say Satan,” Mr Carlson replied.

“Because I really think that you’ve got dark forces in charge. I mean, there’s no justification for using antipersonnel mines in this conflict, which can’t hope to be solved.

“The only effect of that move is to kill innocents, period. That’s it, that’s the only effect, and they know that. And so they’re doing it anyway, because killing is the point.

‘So it’s evil. I think we should say that. I don’t think it’s a matter of defending democracy. The President of Ukraine is not elected, he’s a dictator.

“Everything that’s happening there is horrifying.”

Tucker Carlson speaking to the Redacted podcast.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was elected with three-quarters of the vote in 2019. Another election was due to be held by March or April of this year, however, since Ukrainian law does not allow presidential elections to be held while martial law is in effect, it has been postponed until a later date.

(That date is currently scheduled for early February of next year, though the likelihood of it being pushed back again seems high.)

It should be noted that Ukraine’s parliament voted in favour of the postponement.

There is widespread opposition, within Ukraine, to the idea of holding an election before the war with Russia is over. A poll late last year found 81 per cent of citizens were opposed.

The Biden administration has been loosening its restrictions on Ukraine’s strategy in recent weeks. In addition to letting Ukraine use the landmines, the US has also given the green light to its use of American made, long-range ATACMS missiles.

Last week Ukraine used some of those missiles to bomb a city inside Russia.

The landmines cannot be used near civilians, and they are designed to become inert after a certain period of time. Once the battery inside them runs out, they can no longer detonate.

Vladimir Putin. Picture: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP

Ukrainian forces discover faulty ammunition

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defence ministry has opened a probe into defective mortar shells being used against Russian forces and suspended their use, after a scandal emerged in the press.

At least 100,000 Ukrainian-made 120-millimetre shells have been removed from the front line, according to the Ukrainian news site Dzerkalo Tyjnia.

Ukrainian war journalist Yuriy Butusov also shared the figure on Sunday, denouncing “criminal negligence”.

The announcement came as Ukraine’s fatigued troops were struggling to contain advances by larger, better-armed Russian forces in the east of the country.

Soldiers began to voice concerns about the faulty shells in early November, saying the rounds would not explode, remained stuck in the mortar or fell off target.

The defence ministry on Tuesday addressed the reports in a statement, saying it had stopped using them on the front line and seized part of the supply.

The use and delivery of the shells to combat units have been put on hold “until the causes of the malfunction are determined”, the statement said.

Defective ammunition will be replaced with imported shells.

The authorities have been investigating the reports of “abnormal firing” for about two weeks, but details had been deemed “sensitive” given the ongoing war, the statement added.

Early findings of the probe pointed to poor-quality powder charges or violations of shell storage conditions as possible causes, the ministry said.

Since Russia launched its invasion nearly three years ago, Ukraine, which relies on Western military aid, has significantly ramped up its domestic weapons production.

President Volodymyr Zelensky last week told parliament that his war-torn country had manufactured more than 2.5 million mortar and artillery shells ranging from 60 to 155 millimetres.

– with AFP