When questioned in the Senate this month about whether Ukraine had biological weapons, Victoria Nuland, a deputy secretary of state, said labs in the country had materials that could be dangerous if they fell into Russian hands. Jack Posobiec, a far-right commentator, insinuated on his March 9 podcast that Ms. Nuland’s response reinforced the conspiracy theory.
“Everyone needs to clarify what’s going on in those labs because I guarantee you the Russians are about to put everything on the world stage,” said Mr Posobiec, who did not respond to calls for comment.
Russian officials also addressed Ms. Nuland’s comments. “The nervous response confirms that Russia’s allegations are well-founded,” reports the country’s official account for the foreign ministry. Posted on Twitter.
In addition to the bioweapons conspiracy theory, Joseph Jordan, a white nationalist podcaster under the pseudonym Eric Striker, echoed Russia’s claim that a pregnant woman injured in the bombing of a Ukrainian maternity hospital had faked her injuries. In his Telegram channel, Mr. Jordan told his 15,000 followers that the hospital photos were staged. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Some Russians have commented publicly on what appears to be common ground with far-right Americans. Last week, the host, Olga Skabeeva, spoke on the Russian state-sponsored news program 60 Minutes, which is unrelated to the CBS show of the same name, about strengthening the country’s ties with Mr. Carlson.
“Our acquaintance, Fox News host Tucker Carlson, clearly has his own interests,” she says said, which aired several clips of Mr. Carlson’s show suggesting that the United States had pushed for conflict in Ukraine. “But lately, they’re aligning more and more with ours.”
This post Russia and far-right Americans find common ground with war in Ukraine
was original published at “https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/technology/russia-american-far-right-ukraine.html”
