How Elon Musk became Putin’s ‘useful idiot’.

It wasn’t long ago that America’s left-liberal professors and intellectuals traded in their Volvos for a Tesla. Elon Musk is anything but a model entrepreneur, but with Tesla he brought the concentrated power of the car lobby to its knees and helped the electric car achieve a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, left-wing liberals would rather get rid of their Tesla today than tomorrow, because Musk has not only proven to be an anti-union exploiter, he has also proven to be a naive supporter of Vladimir Putin. His admiration for Putin has become so great that the Wall Street Journal has dubbed him ‘Moscow Musk’.

Musk has also earned this title. A week ago he posted on X (formerly Twitter): “Putin will definitely not lose.” At the same time, he called on senators – without success – to reject the aid package for Ukraine.

Since taking over Twitter, Musk has turned the formerly left-liberal platform into a mouthpiece for right-wing and right-wing extremists. He himself made headlines by reposting an openly anti-Semitic message to his approximately 170 million followers – and later had to apologize for it.

Overall, Musk has systematically torn down protective walls against right-wing extremist propaganda by firing about 1,700 former Twitter employees who had previously prevented this content. There are now only 100 employees who are responsible for this task, but can no longer fulfill it. It doesn’t help that Musk himself is reposting right-wing and even right-wing extremist messages.

Last but not least, Vladimir Putin benefits from this. Thanks to Musk, his broadcaster RT no longer has to declare itself a state propaganda channel and can broadcast its messages unfiltered to the public. Caroline Orr Bueno, professor of communications at the University of Maryland, explains in the Wall Street Journal: “Thanks to Elon Musk and the changes he made to Twitter, Russian propaganda has gained a huge following. This also means that this propaganda is reaching more and more people without any chance of being stopped.”

The pro-Russian propaganda about X has reached such a level that even the European Commission is concerned. She has therefore ordered an investigation into “false information”. Vera Jourova, who is responsible for this at the European Commission, explains: “Russia has launched a war of ideas and is polluting the public with half-truths and lies that create a false image of democracy.”

Musk is probably doing the most important favor for his new friend Putin by giving the Russian military access to Starlink. This satellite system has become an important factor in the war in Ukraine. Initially, only Ukraine benefited. It was later revealed that Musk had disabled it over Crimea, making it impossible for Ukrainians to attack Russian military facilities.

The Russians should now even have access to Starlink – a scandal, because Musk is paid handsomely by the US government for keeping this system running. Why is Musk flirting with the Russians now? Why is he still receiving money from the government?” asks Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican representative, on X.

Putin, on the other hand, enjoys Musk. In his interview with Tucker Carlson, he said: “You can’t stop Elon Musk. He does exactly what he thinks you should do.” Naturally, this interview was broadcast on X because Musk welcomed the star presenter who was fired from Fox News with open arms and has now offered him a platform.

However, Alexei Navalny’s death has poured a bucket of cold water on Carlson’s interview, especially since the former Fox News star made statements that later turned out to be more than unfortunate.

Asked why he had not taken a tougher approach to Putin, Carlson told an Egyptian journalist at an economic summit in Dubai: “I’ve talked to people who run different countries all my life. I came to the following conclusion: every leader kills people, including my leader. Every leader kills people, some more than others. Leadership requires killing people. I’m sorry. That’s why I don’t want to be a leader.”

This statement blew up in Carlson’s face after Navalny’s death, even though he desperately tried to put things into perspective afterwards. He said he was “shocked by what happened to Navalny.” “It’s all barbaric and terrible. No decent person would try that.”

Tucker Carlson clearly doesn’t know his soulmate in Switzerland. On his YouTube channel, the so-called Carlson Roger Köppel actually tries to overshadow Navalny. He had previously lifted the Russian president to heaven in the editorial of his ‘Weltwoche’. In the Carlson interview, he seems “vital, eloquent, well-informed, quick-witted and even humorous,” Köppel enthuses, adding, “He speaks in a more controlled, factual and, yes, polite manner than his rhetorical way. uninhibited critics in the West.”

Ultimately, Köppel goes so far as to theorize that “Putin is a cold shock to reality” that “the Woke West so desperately needed.” However, timing has never been Köppel’s strength. When he first branded Putin a “misunderstood man,” he attacked Ukraine the next day.

What Carlson and Köppel are unwilling to admit is that the war in Ukraine has brought Russia’s “managed democracy” a lot closer to Stalinism. Russia expert Alexander Baunov writes in the Financial Times:

Navalny’s martyrdom could actually trigger a shock in the West, but a very different one from the “cold” shock Köppel had hoped for. Ironically, the quote attributed to Joseph Stalin, “One death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths are a statistic,” could turn against Putin. The removal of Putin’s critic has already led to strong reactions in the West.

Last weekend, well-known Republicans in the US also spoke out in favor of the House of Representatives finally approving the aid package that Ukraine urgently needs. So far, Mike Johnson, the Trump-loving speaker, has avoided this with windy arguments. The ex-president himself has not yet mentioned Navalny’s death with one syllable.

Meanwhile, Europeans appear to be gradually recognizing the seriousness of the situation. The realization that we must arm ourselves against Russia and can no longer rely solely on the Americans is not only announced in countless comments in the leading media, it also seems to be gaining ground in the minds of the responsible heads of state. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently said his country will increase military spending not only to the NATO-recommended two percent of gross domestic product, but even to around four percent.

Meanwhile, the Putin trolls are not only being ridiculed. Tucker Carlson must accept the ultimate insult. Vladimir Putin subsequently dismissed the hyped interview as ‘harmless’. “To be honest, I had hoped for more,” said the Russian president.