Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is increasingly seen as a bombastic and out-there kind of host, and to be sure, he’s getting bolder and bolder when it comes to expressing his opinions. And it’s working out for him, as he’s the most-watched cable news host in the country. Doubtless, Carlson plays to this when writing his scripts — scripts that are tailor-made for internet clipping.

To be sure, it gets people talking, and that talking leads them to Carlson’s show where numbers go up and messages get out. It’s a solid strategy for both ratings and information distribution.

Recently, Carlson released a clip that began angering people. This isn’t necessarily an uncommon thing, but what made it weird is that the clip began angering conservatives, too. Watching it, you see Carlson seemingly defending Russian President Vladimir Putin and making Americans question why he hates them:

“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?”

Tucker: It may be worth asking yourself… why do I hate Putin.. Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? pic.twitter.com/0jlXfS0PYy

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 23, 2022

The clip ends there, and anyone who sees it may walk away thinking Carlson has become a Putin shill who wants the U.S. to remain out of the Russia/Ukraine conflict and let the Russian dictator have whatever he wants.

But if you zoom out and see the full context, we suddenly have an entirely different tale here. Carlson wasn’t cheerleading for Putin; he was highlighting how our own tribalism is being used against us to pardon war and sending us hurtling on a crash-course with a conflict with Russia…and possibly all for President Joe Biden’s benefit:

“If you’ve been watching the news, you know that Putin is having a border dispute with a nation called Ukraine. Now, the main thing to know about Ukraine for our purposes is that its leaders once sent millions of dollars to Joe Biden’s family. Not surprisingly, Ukraine is now one of Biden’s favorite countries. Biden has pledged to defend Ukraine’s borders even as he opens our borders to the world. That’s how it works. Invading America is called equity. Invading Ukraine is a war crime.”

Carlson makes it clear that the narrative that we need to protect Ukraine because Ukraine is a democracy is actually false, as the Ukrainian president has a habit of arresting his political opponents and shutting down news outlets that are critical of him. By all accounts, Ukraine is a tyrannical state, but because Biden is linked with them, the narrative is that they need protecting.

Carlson makes it clear that this might be good for Biden but bad for you, and while Biden has admitted this fact, you’re being told that denying Putin Ukraine on moral grounds is the greater victory:

“Energy prices in the United States are about to go way up, and that means that everything you buy will become much more expensive, from the food you eat to the car you drive to the tickets you need to take your family on vacation this summer, assuming you can still afford a vacation by then. You’re about to become measurably poorer. That’s not a guess. Joe Biden has admitted this. 

On the other hand, you’re going to win an important moral victory against dastardly old Vladimir Putin, who is much, much worse than Justin Trudeau. Just so you know. So you can feel good about that because…because…let’s see, come to think of it, why would you feel good about that? It seems like a pretty terrible deal for you and for the United States. Hunter Biden gets a million dollars a year from Ukraine, but you can no longer afford to go out to dinner. That’s not a bargain.”

You can watch the full context of Carlson’s speech below…

…but let’s be clear about what the Fox News host is trying to say.

He’s not saying Putin is good. Throughout the entirety of this very lengthy segment, he never once compliments Putin or comes to his defense about anything.

What he’s pointing out, however, is that America’s hatred of Putin is automatic and is used to drive your approval of a war that will not only make life more difficult here in the states, but it will likely lead to Americans dying abroad. We’ll once again be tied to a conflict we didn’t ask for, in a country that would likely keep us wrapped up in expenditures of every kind for years on end.

In short, you’re being played.

It’s also worth pointing out, as Carlson did, that speaking out against a war to defend Ukraine allows people to portray you as a Putin apologist. It comes down to simply denying Putin whatever he wants because Putin bad and Ukraine good. If you think war with Ukraine bad, you must think Putin good. No nuance allowed.

This is Carlson’s point — and it’s a point I think we should all very much stop and consider.