A video that features Representative Madison Cawthorn, a Republican from North Carolina, where she blasts Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, has reportedly joined clips of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which are shown in rotation on Russian state-run television, as per Newsweek. 

Cawthorn spoke to supporters calling Zelensky a “thug” and said, “the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt”. The Republican also called the government “evil” for “pushing woke ideologies”. The video was obtained by WRAL, the Raleigh news station. NBC reporter Raf Sanchez also shared a clip on Twitter where Cawthorn’s comments are accompanied by a Russian voiceover. 

Cawthorn’s Communications Director Luke Ball defended the Republican, whose statements have echoed with Russian propaganda overseas, but faced deep criticism at home. Ball told Newsweek, “Russian disinformation twists words, removes context, and uses selective sound bites to further their political agenda. It reminds us of the mainstream media here in the United States. Sad!” 

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The communications head noted that Cawthorn had gone on to label the invasion as “disgusting” and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “tyrant”. 

Media outlet RT, which is run by the Russian government, previously showed a clip from ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ repeatedly, where the Fox News host urged viewers not to “hate” Putin. During the troop buildup, Carlson was quick to dismiss the West’s warnings, but he’s changed his tune much more recently. However, it is only a halfway measure from Carlson, who’s taken the chance to criticize the Joe Biden government in the US and blame them for sending Vice President Kamala Harris to sort out the matter, initially. 

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According to a memo released by Kremlin on March 3, and later obtained by Mother Jones, the progressive American magazine, Russian state media was instructed to use clips of Carlson discussing the Ukraine war, as much as possible, to win the information war.