Kinzinger Goes Off On Tucker Carlson For Helping Putin Destroy Democracy

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) is among those thoroughly unimpressed by the right-wing rush to embrace recent comments from UFC-affiliated MMA fighter Bryce Mitchell, who publicly pushed back on the prospect of going to battle overseas in the Russia-Ukraine war — although top U.S. officials are not actually proposing such a move. Mitchell also proudly proclaimed that he would fight in the event of an invasion of the U.S. — but frankly, it’s weird to basically fantasize about the United States being invaded. Kinzinger clowned on Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week after the self-important right-wing provocateur touted Mitchell on his show. As Kinzinger — who, it’s worth noting, is an active member of the military in addition to his Congressional service — phrased things:

‘Oh my Lord. This is America. By the way “I’ll fight when the war comes to Arkansas…” WHAT?? The WW2 generation would love to slap him I’m sure. Way to go [Tucker Carlson]. This is a new way to support Putin without being so obvious. Side note to this kid, please just stay here and entertain. Nobody is asking you to fight for your country. There are far braver men and women that will do that, even in Arkansas.’

Mitchell referenced Arkansas in his original remarks. Kinzinger has already publicly gone after Donald Trump Jr. after the former president’s son also touted comments from the MMA fighter. As Kinzinger put it, addressing Don Jr.:”No one in your family has served anything but yourselves for your whole life, why would anyone expect different from you? Service is hard. Staying in Arkansas or New York isn’t. Please be with him. I only want strength in our military.” Again, to be clear: there is no indication of any imminent or future U.S. deployment directly into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, although U.S. personnel have recently been working on shoring up the defenses of countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Eastern Europe. Rather than direct military involvement, the U.S. has been rolling out military and humanitarian aid for Ukrainians who are facing the Russian onslaught, which has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians according to officials in the country — although the continuous nature of the attacks on Ukraine makes clear that exact numbers are difficult to pin down. Deputy mayor of Mariupol Sergiy Orlov said that over 1,100 people had died in his city alone as of this Wednesday.