Last week, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny joined a long line of ordinary and noble people who were and are the victims of Stalinist tyranny and now Russian authoritarianism.
Just 10 days prior, Tucker Carlson interviewed Putin, Navalny’s nemesis—and soon to be murderer—in a two-hour conversation at the Kremlin. The name Alexei Navalny never came up.
Then, when Carlson appeared onstage at the World Government Summit in Dubai and was asked why he hadn’t pressed Putin about Navalny, he replied: “Every leader kills people. Some kill more than others. Leadership requires killing people.”
Carlson went on to talk about how wonderful the Russian capital was, how it was “so much nicer than any city in my country.” (All onstage in a country that runs on indentured servitude and sharply curbs freedom of expression, mind you.)
Today, Free Press senior editor Peter Savodnik explains why Tucker Carlson—and so many on the American right—are confused about Putin’s Russia, and about what Navalny—a hero of our darkening century—died for. Putin is a warden of the deepest of deep states. So why does Carlson and his lot believe he’s worthy of admiration? And how did so many on the American right succumb to the same idiocy and myopia that grip so many progressive identitarians?
The way the left and the right arrived at their own brand of anti-Americanism was different, Peter argues. But the outcome is the same: this is exactly what the Kremlin wants.
For further reading on Navalny's death, check out:
Alexei Navalny Lived and Died in Truth, by Bari Wiess
Navalny’s Letters from the Gulag, by the Free Press
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Why No One Trusts Anything
Things Worth Fighting For
The Stakes of a No Fly Zone
Watching Lia Thomas Win
Russia's War on Ukraine: A Roundtable
America Is Afraid of War. Putin Knows It.
Condoleezza Rice on Race, Russia, Freedom and Why America’s Best Days Are Still Ahead
Beijing's Genocide Olympics
Former Google CEO on Big Tech, Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin and the Future
Matt Taibbi v. Bret Stephens on American Power
Why Are We Boosting Kids?
The Tiger Mom Won't Stop Roaring
An Imam Blows the Whistle on Muslim Antisemitism
The Aftermath Part 2: The Haves and The Have Nots
The Aftermath Part 1: Kids, Schools, and the Crime Surge
Bringing Sanity to the Omicron Chaos: Three Doctors Weigh In
Humans Are More Resilient Than You Think
Investigating January 6th: The Price Liz Cheney Paid
Replay: America's Cultural Revolution
Replay: Why You’re Right – And Wrong – About Abortion
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
The Commentary Magazine Podcast
Conversations with Tyler
UnHerd with Freddie Sayers
heretics. | andrew gold
Making Sense with Sam Harris