Last Updated on April 6, 2022
Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger fell for yet another internet hoax on Tuesday. The soon to be retiring congressman has fallen for such hoaxes on multiple occasions, the most notable being a “Ghost of Kyiv” meme several weeks ago. Now, the Never-Trump congressman has fallen for a fake quote attributed to Tucker Carlson. Kinzinger used the fake Tucker Carlson quote to call the Fox News host a “Russian asset.”
The incomparably dumb and unhinged @AdamKinzinger took a fabricated quote from long-time-deadbeat-dad-turned-liberal-hero @WalshFreedom, believed it true, and used it to declare a journalist a "Russian asset" – just as hordes of dumb liberals did with @TheRickWilson's fake quote. pic.twitter.com/vhRaKDy6wE
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 5, 2022
The alleged Tucker Carlson “quote” shared by disgraced former congressman Joe Walsh is fake. Carlson has been critical of the official narrative regarding the war in Ukraine, which has drawn the ire of neoconservatives such as Walsh and Kinzinger. Kinzinger has repeatedly labelled Tucker Carlson, along with others to his right who dissent from the Washington consensus, as “Putin sympathizers”.
Kinzinger’s habit of sharing misinformation and blatant propaganda could carry serious consequences. The congressman is one of a handful of politicians who has repeatedly advocated for a no-fly zone in Ukraine. Instituting a no-fly zone would mean that NATO forces would fire on any Russian aircraft to enter the zone, an action that would start a third world war.
Kinzinger later took a break from tweeting fake war propaganda to address his followers in a short video.
Instead of a tweet thread about the unseriousness of some members of Congress in this serious time, I just decided to tell you on video: pic.twitter.com/TPJfofOKra
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) April 5, 2022
The outgoing congressman has long used his platform to attack those to his right rather than confronting the left. Kinzinger attacked Republicans as “children” for leaning into culture war issues, such as Disney’s recently revealed affinity for bombarding young kids with LGBT-heavy material. “There is a genocide going on in Ukraine, and the outrage is over what is going on at Walt Disney”, Kinzinger said in the video.
Kinzinger’s video reinforces what people like Tucker Carlson have been saying since the feud between Russia and Ukraine began to escalate. “The world order is being challenged for the first time since World War II,” Kinzinger said in the video.
