On the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, conservative media commentator Tucker Carlson used his nightly Fox News platform to ask why the Democratic establishment was being hostile towards Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Since the day that Donald Trump became president, Democrats in Washington have told you it’s your patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin,” Carlson said.

“Anything less than hatred for Putin is treason.”

He mused that hating Putin had become “the central purpose of America’s foreign policy”, which, he argued, could force the United States into a conflict in Eastern Europe — something no one from either side of politics has called for.

Mr Carlson insisted his audience ask themselves: “Why do I hate Putin so much? Has Putin ever called me a racist?”

A day earlier, former US president Donald Trump shared an equally unusual take on a conservative radio show, seeming to praise Putin’s “peacekeeping” operation in Ukraine’s separatist-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as “genius” and “very savvy”. 

“How smart is that?” Mr Trump asked.

“There were more army tanks than I’ve […]