AFP Photo/Jewel Samad
In their never-ending quest to discredit President Barack Obama, many prominent members of the right-wing media have found a surprising new champion: Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Although Russia has long been the subject of the right’s paranoia and scorn, ever since Putin and Obama found themsleves on opposite sides of the debate over what to do in Syria, Putin has suddenly become an object of affection for Fox News and the rest of the Republican media. The longer the crisis drags on, the more glowing the reviews of Putin are becoming — at this pace, the Russian president will probably be the odds-on favorite in the next CPAC straw poll.
Here are five right-wing media stars who can’t seem to get enough of Vladimir Putin:
H/T: Media Matters
Matt Drudge
Drudge, the editor of the influential right-wing news aggregator Drudge Report, declared Putin the “leader of the free world” on August 31 (despite the obvious evidence to the contrary).
Putin is the leader of the free world…
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) August 31, 2013
Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter
During a September 9 appearance on Fox News’ Hannity, the host gushed over Putin’s ability to “embarrass” President Obama and referred to him as “the great peacemaker out there.” Meanwhile, Coulter repeatedly gloated that Putin has made Obama his “monkey.”
Ralph Peters
Last week, the Fox News military analyst made the laughable claim that Russia’s economy is stronger than America’s, and praised Putin as a “tough” “He-Man”:
K.T. McFarland
Apparently unconcerned with Putin’s longstanding efforts to block the United Nations from aiding victims of the Syrian civil war, Fox News security analyst K.T. McFarland wrote a September 10 column on FoxNews.com, claiming that “the world knows that Vladimir Putin is the one who really deserves that Nobel Peace Prize.”
Rush Limbaugh
On his September 10 radio show, Limbaugh agreed with McFarland that “Vladimir Putin ought to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize,” and went on to argue that “Putin ought to be addressing the American people tonight on TV, not Obama.”
“Putin, again, has beaten Obama. There’s no two ways about that,” Limbaugh raved. “Putin comes out the big winner.”
