Adam Kinzinger declared that Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s call for an armed rebellion in Russia is a “massive blow” for federal lawmakers and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson who have gravitated toward Russian President Vladimir Putin’s messaging.
The CNN senior political commentator and former GOP congressman made rounds on the network on Friday after the mercenary boss’s call directed at Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom he accused of ordering a rocket strike on Wagner’s Ukrainian field camps as his troops fight for Russia.
Kinzinger, in an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, highlighted Carlson’s apparent admiration for Putin in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“I’ll also say it’s a massive blow to the people here in the United States like, say, Tucker Carlson, who have been parroting Putin talking points to have Prigozhin ― the head of Wagner himself ― say those have been [Putin’s] lies,” Kinzinger said.
Kinzinger, in a later appearance on CNN, predicted that there will be “some instability in Russia” even if a “whole supposed coup fails” in the country.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has pushed back against Prigozhin’s claims on its rocket strike while the Russian Federal Security Services’ National Anti-Terrorism Committee said Prigozhin would face an investigation for his call for a rebellion, The Associated Press reported.
Troops from the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary force, have reportedly moved into the Russian city of Rostov while Kremlin forces have also increased security in Moscow, according to AP.
Kinzinger went on to call out Carlson as well as members of the Senate and House, generally far-right backers of former President Donald Trump, who have been “parroting Putin’s lies” in the wake of Prigozhin’s call.
“They’ve been parroting the lies that this was a war brought on somehow by NATO, that Ukraine deserved it, because Prigozhin himself ― again, head of basically a terrorist organization ― said to the Russian people tonight that Russia has been lying to them about the cause of the war, Russia has been lying to them about who’s the aggressor in the Donbas,” Kinzinger said.
“That’s something to remember when American commentators are saying that Vladimir Putin is actually an honorable man who’s telling the truth.”
