This, of course, has been metered by the conviction of those in Congress and elsewhere, who believe that the conflict stems from injustices from the West towards Russia, and that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion is part of a broader ideological struggle.

This sentiment manifested this week as remarks attributed to forthright Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin caused outrage, representing what some believed was an attack on “Christian” and “traditional” values.

The Claim

Multiple Telegram and Twitter posts, published in late October 2022, include a clip of Fox News host Tucker Carlson talking about remarks by Raskin.

In the full segment, Carlson discusses what he describes as “self-destructive mistakes” made by the U.S. in its sanctioning of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine, such as the oil and gas ban, which has caused economic harm at home.

Carlson asks why the Biden Administration is taking the course of action it has on Ukraine policy. The clip shared widely on social media picks up the segment at this point.

“Well this week Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, of Bethesda, answered that question,” Carlson says.

“Russia is an orthodox Christian country with traditional social values and for that reason it must be destroyed no matter what the cost to us. So, this is not a conventional war, this is a Jihad. Jamie Raskin said that out loud but many in Washington agree with him.”

A number of the posts that shared the video attributed the statement directly to Raskin.

One post shared on Russian Telegram channel Readovka included what it presented as a direct quote from Raskin: “U.S. congressman says Russia must be destroyed at any cost because it is an Orthodox country with traditional values.

“A new existential revelation from American politicians. This time Congressman Jamie Raskin made a scandalous statement—that Russia must be destroyed, and for good reason.”

Posts including the video have been shared and engaged hundreds of thousands of times in less than two days, with many featuring the Fox segment footage.

The Facts

The clip of Tucker Carlson was widely shared across prominent Russian Telegram channels known for disinformation, including Soloviev Live (run by Russian state TV firebrand Vladimir Solovyov) and Readovka, garnering hundreds of thousands of views.

Most of these clips do not mention Carlson directly, but have quoted Raskin or otherwise attributed it to “American politicians,” based on the Fox News host’s segment.

However, whether Carlson was quoting directly or paraphrasing, we could find no evidence that Raskin said anything about destroying Russia, its Christian or “traditional” values, or anything about Jihad.

In a blog post published on October 25, 2022, the Maryland Congressman stated that “Moscow right now is a hub of corrupt tyranny, censorship, authoritarian repression, police violence, propaganda, government lies, and disinformation, and planning for war crimes.

“It is a world center of antifeminist, antigay, anti-trans hatred, as well as the homeland of replacement theory for export.

“In supporting Ukraine, we are opposing these fascist views, and supporting the urgent principles of democratic pluralism.

“Ukraine is not perfect, of course, but its society is organized on the radically different principles of democracy and freedom, which is why Russia’s oligarchical leaders seek to destroy it forever.”

This and other parts of his blog post were subsequently criticized for its “progressive” subtext.

Among the responses, commentator Michael Tracey tweeted: “Everyone should read this @RepRaskin statement because it’s basically a manifesto declaring Progressive Holy War against Russia by way of Ukraine.

“I honestly think they’d be OK getting incinerated in a nuclear holocaust if it meant staying true to this ideological ‘struggle’.”

While Carlson did not explicitly state the source for the supposed claim by Raskin, the blog post was the most recent public mention of Russia by the Congressman.

Instead, the Fox host appears to offer his own interpretation of the statement, in which, Carlson suggests, Raskin had discussed the abatement of “Christian” and “traditional” values.

While Carlson does not state outright that this was a direct quote from the congressman, the segment was ambiguous, and the words were repeated as a quote of Raskin on Russian Telegram and other social media channels.

However, Raskin’s post doesn’t refer to Christianity. Raskin criticizes what he sees as Russia’s “anti-feminist, antigay, anti-trans hatred” culture and that it is the “homeland of replacement theory.”

There is also no reference to Holy War, or jihad, or any call to destroy Russia. The only time the word is used is with reference to the “destruction” caused by the invasion of Ukraine.

Newsweek has searched for other claims that Raskin has made about Ukraine or Russia within the past week but could find none that match the words used by Carlson or those who echoed his comments.

Some observers, including a number of Telegram channels, have taken Carlson’s words as verbatim of Raskin or “American politicians.” Carlson had said the congressman expressed these sentiments “this week…out loud.”

This is not the first time that comments made by Tucker Carlson have found their way into Russian media space. Segments from his Fox News show have been aired on state TV on a number of occasions.

Newsweek has contacted Fox News and Jamie Raskin for comment.

The Ruling

False.

Jamie Raskin did not say that the U.S. should try to destroy Russia nor that America should engage in jihad against the country’s “Christian…traditional values.”

Posts on Russian social media and Twitter have incorrectly taken Carlson’s words as a verbatim quote from Raskin.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team