Daily Beast: “President Putin has pulled off a targeted propaganda operation against the U.S. that’s so simple it never should have worked – and he did it in plain sight as part of the build up to last week’s summit with President Biden. This weekend, Russia’s favorite propaganda shows celebrated a job well done. State TV propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov asserted on his show on Sunday: ‘Biden should keep in mind that not only America is back, but Russia is back too.’ The ploy began when Putin sat down for an interview with NBC’s Keir Simmons. He directed the conversation away from his suspected involvement in the murders and attempted murders of his critics. Instead, asking: ‘Did you order the assassination of the woman who walked into Congress and who was shot and killed by a policeman?’ The Russian president was referring to Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she tried to climb through the broken window of a door leading directly onto the House floor during the Jan. 6 riots. The bait had been thrown.”

“Putin’s plot paid off in spades, when Tucker Carlson played the clip of his comments to NBC on his show and expressed agreement. Carlson said: ‘Now, under normal circumstances, we would never play tape of a foreign adversary criticizing our government. But honestly, those are fair questions.’ Without a hint of irony, Carlson added: ‘Vladimir Putin knows authoritarian systems very well, and he sees clearly what is happening in this country.’ The Fox News host seemed to assume that an authoritarian adversary was providing this advice without an ulterior motive – and eagerly shared it with his American audience. His decision was cheered by pro-Kremlin propagandists in Moscow.”