Tucker Carlson charges Ukraine with selling 50% of military aid for profit on the black market to drug cartels.

DW PHILLIPS

JAN 18, 2025

This week Tucker Carlson claimed to have proof that 50% of all military aid given to Kyiv by the United States is being sold on the black market by Ukrainians in a massive corruption scandal. And it gets worse. According to Tucker much of the military hardware is being handed over to drug cartels. 

Having spoken personally with two ranking Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, one of whom investigated from the ground in Ukraine claims of corrupt profiteering and determined that they were bunk, I’m interested to know that Tucker has discovered something that no other member of Congress has discovered. It also appears that no one in the incoming administration working on Ukraine knows about Tucker’s claim. Not the president-elect, nor Mike Waltz, Marco Rubio or the special counsel to Ukraine, General Kellogg. 

Just Tucker. Because some dude told him so. 

Unlike Tucker, I’m even willing to tell you the name of my sources – Congressman Rich McCormick (R – Georgia) and Ronny Jackson (R – Texas).

Here is what I do know: For three years my organization Ukraine Story has been tracking the volumes of misrepresentations, gross exaggerations, historical revisionisms, false attributions and falsehoods about the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine presented to a collective audience in the billions by Tucker Carlson. 

Tucker’s whoppers come in different shapes and sizes, but typically follow a very specific pattern. 

Here is how it works. 

Make a shocking and outrageous claim about Ukraine. 

Look into the camera and say “It’s true. It’s a fact. It’s just a fact.”

Next, make an even more shocking claim. Reveal something truly detestable. Speak it slowly and in a low voice as if you are sharing a secret. Then tell your audience that you heard this “fact” from an unnamed source and therefore know it’s an “absolute fact.” 

Never present the source. Never allow the “fact” to be examined. No footnotes. Why do you need to discuss sources? You are an expert. You are a collector of secrets. You have intuition. Cogito, ergo recte sum. 

After all, you’re the guy with the ten million subscribers. You’re the man who built his entire empire on the exposure of liars and villains. Of course, your viewers should take what you say as Gospel. 

“It’s obvious.” “It’s a fact.” Say this on repeat. 

Be confident. Scrunch up your eyes. Look sympathetically concerned. 

Now explain that this fact you discovered from an unnamed source proves that Ukraine is irredeemably corrupt. Not only that, but they are leading America to nuclear war.

That’s right, your children may die because of Ukraine. 

Now use the tried and true strategy which has worked in the past – moral outrage, contempt and fear. 

Start with moral outrage. 

There are forces at work trying to silence you from speaking about this absolute fact which you heard from an unnamed source. Obviously, they want to silence you. Your God given rights to free speech as an American are under assault. 

While you are at it, make sure to appeal to your audience’s understandable distrust for elites. Just never let them know that you have become the new elite. 

Now pander to fear. That always works. 

Make it personal. Say nothing about your own vast net worth while reminding your audience that they are broke in part because Ukrainians are stealing your money for their nasty little war. Have you noticed the price of groceries lately? Prices rise and your money disappears because it is being given away. It’s going to get worse.

But will any of that matter after the bombs start dropping. That’s right. Every time those maniacs in Kyiv try to defend their country they are provoking nuclear war. What choice does Russia have anyways? 

And once they start lobbing nuclear bombs, it won’t stop. 

Finally, throw in a dash of contempt. 

Relentlessly mock Ukrainian leaders defending against Russian aggression. Make fun of their clothing. Their faces. Call them names. After all, who wants to be associated with such contemptible people. 

Finally, remind your audience of how fortunate they are to have a voice of truth like you in the sea of media lies. 

Press the send button. Broadcast to more than ten million people. 

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DW Phillips is a producer, filmmaker, writer and attorney. He is a director for Ukraine Story, a foundation for journalism and documentary reporting.