Undermining a Core American Ideal
At a Turning Point USA conference earlier this month, Tucker Carlson gave a speech arguing that Americans who fight for foreign nations, specifically Ukraine or Israel, should be stripped of their citizenship. That statement wasn’t a throwaway line; it was part of a larger, well-rehearsed performance, one that fits into a broader campaign of disinformation and grievance politics. Carlson, once the face of Fox News’ primetime lineup, has now embraced a far more dangerous mantle: professional apologist for the enemies of liberal democracy.
Carlson’s remarks reflect not only a historical ignorance but also a strategic hypocrisy. American citizens have volunteered in foreign wars throughout the 20th century, often with pride and historical vindication. James Jakob Williams, a Black American who fought in the Greek War of Independence, was one of the first. During the Spanish Civil War, Frank Glasgow Tinker flew fighter planes with the Spanish Republic. The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, composed of nearly 3,000 American volunteers, fought fascism in Spain years before the U.S. entered World War II. They weren’t traitors. They were early witnesses to tyranny, willing to risk their lives to stop it before it metastasized.
When Carlson rails against those who serve abroad, he is not defending American sovereignty. He is undermining one of the oldest traditions of American citizenship: that liberty isn’t bound by geography, and that the defense of democratic values transcends national borders.
Carlson’s Dangerous Alliances
It’s also worth remembering that Carlson was fired from Fox News after the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit exposed how willingly he distorted facts to serve political ends. Even Fox, no stranger to controversy, understood that his views had become a liability. Since then, Carlson has only drifted further into authoritarian circles. His recent interviews with Kremlin ideologues, his fawning treatment of Viktor Orbán, and his uncritical discussion with Iranian officials make it clear: the only platforms left that welcome him are those that seek to dismantle the West.
Carlson doesn’t just offer contrarian takes. He actively undermines American alliances and democratic credibility. He echoes propaganda nearly word-for-word from Moscow, amplifies grievance politics designed in Budapest, and nods along as Russian ultranationalists wax nostalgic about empire. In doing so, he legitimizes their ambitions, even as they sow division and pursue conquest. In a time when Ukraine is fighting for its survival and the free world watches nervously, his rhetoric emboldens those who would see democracies fail.
You don’t get to call yourself an advocate for American values while leveraging its global influence against it, especially not on behalf of regimes that execute dissidents, jail journalists, and poison political opponents. Tucker Carlson isn’t merely confused. He’s complicit. His brand of nationalism does not uplift America; it corrodes it. He praises Viktor Orbán as a model of governance while ignoring the fact that Orbán has spent years hollowing out Hungary’s democratic institutions, consolidating power, and aligning more closely with Putin’s Russia than with NATO.
His interview with Aleksandr Dugin, Russia’s ultranationalist philosopher who openly calls for the destruction of the West, should be disqualifying in any serious political culture. But Carlson has no use for intellectual honesty or national loyalty. He gives platform to men who believe liberal democracy is a historical aberration, who view basic gender equality and free expression as weaknesses, and who dream of a return to empire by force. He does all this while claiming to defend the American people, though his rhetoric aligns squarely with those working to divide and disorient them.
Serving Freedom, Not Foreign Regimes
I took up arms for Ukraine in 2022. I served in a light infantry unit as a short-range reconnaissance drone operator, supporting squad-level operations against Russian forces in Kharkiv. I served alongside other Americans, some of them combat veterans like myself, others humanitarian volunteers, medics, or logistics personnel. We didn’t do it for money, fame, or recognition. We did it because we believed the defense of liberty matters, and because the threat posed by the Kremlin is not just to Ukraine, but to the very idea of democratic self-governance. We understood what was at stake.
I am one of hundreds of Americans who made that choice, but I stand in the shadows of greater men and women - those who stayed longer, who gave more, and who never came home. They are part of a long tradition: from those who fought fascism in Europe before Pearl Harbor to those who joined the fight against ISIS, not out of obligation, but conviction. They were not mercenaries. They were patriots who saw injustice and decided to act.
Carlson’s Betrayal
Carlson, meanwhile, behaves like a guttersnipe lashing out at the very system that gave him wealth, influence, and the unearned assumption of seriousness. He sneers at foreign aid while profiting from regimes that torture and kill. He mocks American sacrifice abroad while selling a vision of the future where our allies are abandoned, our values are traded for expedience, and our enemies are handed the microphone.
He says Americans who fight for Ukraine should be punished. But it is Carlson who now serves foreign interests. It is Carlson who undermines democratic institutions while hiding behind the freedoms they afford him.
I’ll close with this: I’m proud to have answered the call to defend Ukraine. I’m proud to have done so as an American. There is honor in service, even service beyond your borders, when the cause is just. And in the long arc of history, it won’t be Carlson’s soundbites or grievance rants that endure. It will be the deeds of those who stood for something greater than themselves. Those who, in word or in action, defended the free world against its most relentless foes.
Benjamin Reed
American Veteran
