Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham put 'America First' on Russia-Ukraine

From my latest at Based Politics, “Carlson brought up two important points. For one, why should Americans die because of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine? Secondly, he reminded viewers that elites in both parties will clamor for war every time an international conflict arises.

Carlson is on to something. For the Right, an ‘America First’ foreign policy should mean putting actual Americans before elites’ interests and ideologies…

Most sensible people likely recoil at the idea of risking putting American lives on the line over Ukraine.

Yet to the degree that the American public can be convinced to support a war, how they consume their news—including mostly Republican and independent voters watching big time players like Carlson, Hannity and Ingraham—can play an important role.

Yes, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney had 9/11 as justification for their wars, but those who lived through it remember how much the conservative-leaning Fox News pushed for our military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. That two of the top personalities at Fox News now put out a non-interventionist message—something anti-war conservatives and libertarians couldn’t have fathomed 15 years ago—is a sight to behold.

Former President Donald Trump blew up the old definition of what constitutes a conservative or Republican foreign policy. Today, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham can’t say 'America First' enough…”

Read the entire column.