Tucker Carlson expressed his amazement during a trip to a supermarket in the heart of Russia's imperial capital. While giving his opinion on the admittedly low prices of groceries, the former king of cable news didn't acknowledge the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar in Russia due to the collapse of the Ruble, or that the average Russian spends half of their income on food or that the average monthly salary in Russia is equal to $791 U.S. dollars.
Carlson's praising of Russia and leadership capabilities of its authoritarian president received a positive response from his most fervent supporters. Outside of that, it's been widely met with derision and disbelief.
One of the fiercest critics of his goodwill tour is North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis (R), whose conservative bona fides can't be dismissed.
On Thursday, Tillis responded to the video of Tucker reflecting on his Moscow grocery store experience by calling the conservative commentator a “useful idiot.”
“If you take people's standard of living and you tank it through filth and crime and inflation, and they literally can't buy the groceries they want at that point, maybe it matters less what you say, or whether you're a good person or a bad person,” Tucker told the camera after watching the cashier ring up his groceries. “You're wrecking people's lives in their country. And that's what our leaders have done to us. And coming to a Russian grocery store, the heart of evil, and seeing what things cost and how people live. It will radicalize you against our leaders. That's how I feel, anyway. Radicalized. We're not making any of this up by the way.”
I'm sure he believes that, but Carlson's commentary was woefully incomplete. Per one example, Russia's household income per capita recently reached the equivalent of about one-seventh of that of our poorest state, Mississippi.
Carlson also failed to acknowledge what might happen to him if he were as critical of Russia's president as he is of Biden.
Nevertheless, in our sharply polarized political environment, Tillis' rebuke filled many of Carlson supporters with indignation. “What's wrong with cheap groceries?,” asked X user SociallySherri. “I mean someone with a net worth over $10M like yourself probably can't relate can you?”
Ryan Fournier, acting national chairman of Students for Trump was more direct, writing, “Are you serious, Thom? He did this video to strictly prove not a damn thing has changed there despite the war. Yet when something goes awry here, gas goes up… groceries go up… EVERYTHING GOES UP! WE ARE SICK OF THIS. You are my Senator. I voted for you and supported you. Do better.”
At the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, predicted that Russia – a country with a population of 145 million and a GDP less than half of California's – will face troubles despite its war economy's resilience to Western sanctions since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Georgieva's remarks to CNBC came at roughly the same time Carlson spoke to summit attendees about his Russian voyage:
“What it tells us is that this is a war economy in which the state — which let's remember, had a very sizeable buffer, built over many years of fiscal discipline — is investing in this war economy. If you look at Russia, today, production goes up, [for the] military, [and] consumption goes down. And that is pretty much what the Soviet Union used to look like. High level of production, low level of consumption.”
Russian defense spending has skyrocketed since the war began. Last November, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a state budget that increased military spending to roughly 30% of fiscal expenditure, amounting to a nearly 70% rise from 2023 to 2024.
Defense and security spending is expected to comprise some 40% of Russia's total budget spending this year, according to analysis by Reuters.
At the same time, however, more than 800,000 people have left Russia, according to estimates by exiled academics compiled last October. Many among those who fled are highly skilled workers in fields like IT and sciences.
“I actually think that the Russian economy is in for very tough times because of the outflow of people and because of the reduced access to technology that comes with the sanctions,” Georgieva noted.
By most quality of life indicators, life in Russia, isn't all some suddenly believe it's cracked up to be. To cite a few, life expectancy is 5.94 years lower than the United States, mortality rates for children and teenagers remain higher, alcohol consumption of all types is 43% greater, cigarette smoking is three times more prevalent and the murder rate per one million people is twice as high.
In a follow-up statement to his tweet, Tillis implied that aiding Ukraine remains a good investment:
“If we walk away, you will see the alliance that is supporting Ukraine crumble. You will ultimately see China become emboldened. And I am not going to be on that page of history. I believe that we have to vote today. And we have to respect some of the priorities, maybe the concerns of the House, as they move this through. But let's let this chamber be the chamber that stands with the free world. That's what we can do today. That's what we must do today.”
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