Speaking on Fox News amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard falsely claimed that Russia and the U.S. are largely the same when it comes to the suppression of free speech.
The March 15 claim by Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii, came shortly after Russia arrested a journalist who protested the war on state TV and enacted a law threatening up to 15 years of prison time for spreading "false information" about the Ukraine invasion.
Fox News host Jesse Watters teed up Gabbard’s segment by playing a clip from ABC’s "The View," when a host suggested that Gabbard and Fox News host Tucker Carlson should be federally investigated for "shilling" for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Watters then claimed Democrats are "seeking out ways to silence free speech."
"Tulsi, it is striking when you see Putin propaganda and you line it up against Biden propaganda," he said. "Do you think that we’re at risk of kind of moving in that direction right now?"
Gabbard responded that the U.S. is "moving in that direction," claiming its leaders and media are "afraid of even a single voice coming out as challenging the power elite." She continued:
"This is why we’re seeing not only still most of the mainstream media very vigorously defending and pushing the Biden propaganda … It’s not enough that they also have Google and Big Tech basically working for them and with them to control what information we see and what information we don’t see …
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