Comedian and political pundit Jon Stewart is laying into Donald Trump, accusing the 45th president of aligning with Vladimir Putin by praising the Russian leader for his ‘genius’ invasion of Ukraine.
The former Daily Show host also hit out at Fox News by claiming it agrees with Putin’s internationally-condemned decision to launch a full scale takeover of its East European neighbor.
‘The Trump/Fox axis isn’t soft pedaling Putin’s actions…they agree with them,’ Stewart tweeted Wednesday. ‘They are political allies. They believe in the same things. To them, the American Left and most of Europe are the Evil Empire.
‘It is f**king bonkers.’
It’s not certain what aspect of Fox’s coverage Stewart was referring to, although the network’s host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday denounced President Joe Biden’s attempts to make Putin a ‘boogeyman.’
Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart is hitting out at Donald Trump over comments he made about the Vladimir Putin-led Russian invasion of Ukraine
European neighbor. ‘The Trump/Fox axis isn’t soft pedaling Putin’s actions…they agree with them,’ Stewart tweeted Wednesday. ‘They are political allies.’
Following weeks of speculation, more than 10,000 Russian soldiers entered separatist-occupied areas of Ukraine overnight Monday, with 6,000 sent to Donetsk, 5,000 to Luhansk, and 1,500 to Horlivka.
Observers had correctly speculated that Putin would begin the invasion by declaring the regions’ independence and entering under the guise of a ‘peacekeeping effort.’
Trump praised Putin during an interview with conservative podcaster Buck Sexton on Tuesday.
‘I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, “This is genius,”‘ Trump recalled. ‘Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine – of Ukraine – Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that’s wonderful.’
‘I said, “How smart is that?'” the former U.S. president continued. ‘And he’s gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. That’s the strongest peace force… We could use that on our southern border. That’s the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen. There were more army tanks than I’ve ever seen. They’re gonna keep peace all right.’
Trump on Tuesday hailed Russian President Vladimir Putin a ‘geniu’ for his approach to invading Ukraine
Trump also said that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he were still America’s president
White House press secretary Jen Psaki hit back at Trump’s comments, telling reporters: ‘As a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin and his military strategy, which I believe is what happened there.
‘Earlier that day, he released a statement claiming the attempted takeover never would have happened if he were still president.
Meantime, Fox personality Carlson went after the Biden administration and mainstream media for portraying Putin in an unfavorable light.
Speaking above a chyron that read ‘Anything less than hating Putin is treason,’ Carlson denounced the attempts to make Putin a ‘bogeyman,’ wondering out loud what exactly he’d done to the United States, despite having referred to both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as ‘tyrants’ just a day earlier.
‘Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington told you, you have a patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin,’ Carlson said on his top-rated cable show ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’ Tuesday. ‘It’s not a suggestion, it’s a mandate. Anything less than hatred for Putin is treason.’
Tucker Carlson criticized Joe Biden and members of both parties for attempting to foment anti-Putin sentiment on his show Tuesday night
‘Many Americans have obeyed this directive,’ he continued. ‘They now dutifully hate Vladimir Putin. Maybe you’re one of them. Hating Putin has become the central purpose of America’s foreign policy. It’s the main thing that we talk about. Entire cable channels are now are devoted to it.’
Carlson showed disdain over the possibility that the United States could be drawn into war over this anti-Putin sentiment.
‘Before that happens, it might be worth asking ourselves – since it is getting pretty serious – what is this really about?’
The host then put out a long list of potential American problems and grievances that Putin is not responsible for.
‘Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs? These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is no. Vladimir Putin didn’t do any of that.’
It’s not the first time Stewart has publicly aired grievances with Carlson.
He famously appeared as Carlson’s guest on Crossfire where he made fun of bowtie and condemned his ‘partisan hackery.’
‘You’re doing theater when you should be doing debate,’ Stewart said. ‘What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery.’
Crossfire was cancelled three months after Stewart’s now infamous appearance.
