Liz Wahl, a former correspondent for the Kremlin-controlled RT network, repeatedly clashed with NewsNation anchor Dan Abrams over her assertion that Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s pro-Putin rhetoric is “indistinguishable” from Russian state media.
Appearing on Thursday night’s broadcast of Dan Abrams Live, Wahl—who famously quit RT live on-air in 2014 over Russia’s annexation of Crimea—spent much of her interview discussing Russia’s use of RT broadcasts to peddle state propaganda to Americans about its invasion of Ukraine.
Eventually, Wahl observed that RT’s American branch has recently recruited a number of Trump supporters to fill out its ranks, noting that “the narratives have essentially become indistinguishable” from pro-Trump media. Abrams, meanwhile, pointed out that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be devoting “real money” to state-run media like RT.
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Things quickly grew tense, however, when Wahl pointed out that Carlson and far-right Trump allies such as Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn “mimic RT now” and “are indistinguishable” from the propaganda network. Flynn, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, released a statement this week defending Putin’s “legitimate ethnic problems” with Ukraine.
“I’ve been very critical of the fringe coverage, we talk about it a lot on this show. But I’m telling you, what I watched today is distinguishable from what you’re seeing on any network,” Abrams retorted, prompting Wahl to ask him to simply review Carlson’s recent comments.
“I’m not going to become an apologist for Tucker Carlson or Mike Flynn, I’ve been very critical of both of them,” the anchor declared. “But I’m telling you that what I saw today [on RT] is not what Tucker Carlson says!”
“I'm telling you that what I saw in the Russian studio is the same propaganda being amplified by Tucker Carlson,” Wahl fired back.
“I'm just telling you that what was on RT today was nothing like what’s on Fox News. Period!” Abrams exclaimed. “That’s not a defense of Tucker Carlson, that’s a defense of what I saw.” (Abrams is also the founder of Mediaite, a media news website that employed this reporter from 2016 to 2018.)
The two battled a bit more over their disagreement, with Wahl urging the NewsNation host to check out her Twitter account for copious examples of Carlson parroting Kremlin talking points and Russian state media re-airing the Fox host’s monologues. Not only have Russian TV networks re-broadcast Carlson’s pro-Putin remarks, but state propagandists have argued that now is the perfect time for Carlson to interview Putin.
“Obviously you want to have a debate with me about this, and that's not why we had you on,” a defensive Abrams argued as Wahl insisted she just wanted to discuss Russian propaganda.
“You want to talk about Tucker again. I got it, I got it, I got it,” he added before pulling the plug on the interview.
