Democratic regimes must suppress free speech and imprison those who dissent. After all, democracy depends on it.
Tucker Carlson reported Friday on social media that American journalist Gonzalo Lira had died in a Ukrainian prison. The former Fox News host said Gonzalo Lira Sr. had reported his son’s death.
Lira had languished in prison since July “for the crime of criticizing the Zelensky and Biden governments,” Carlson wrote on X.
On Dec. 9, he posted an interview with the journalist’s father.
Carlson reposted the video Friday when he reported Lira’s death at age 55.
“Gonzalo Lira was an American citizen, but the Biden administration clearly supported his imprisonment and torture. Several weeks ago we spoke to his father, who predicted his son would be killed,” Carlson wrote.
Gonzalo Lira, Sr. says his son has died at 55 in a Ukrainian prison, where he was being held for the crime of criticizing the Zelensky and Biden governments. Gonzalo Lira was an American citizen, but the Biden administration clearly supported his imprisonment and torture. Several… https://t.co/F0nOG9qGvv
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 12, 2024
At the time of his arrest, Lira resided in Ukraine. On social media, he regularly posted reports and opinions regarding the state of the country’s war with Russia and the nature of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government in Kyiv, the nation’s capital.
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As part of a 5-minute introduction to his interview with Lira’s father, Carlson showed clips of the detained journalist’s reports.
“In the West, all of the propaganda has said that, you know, Zelenskyy’s a hero, a Winston Churchill figure, and the Kyiv regime are just angels and stuff like that. No, they’re bloodthirsty murderers, the Kyiv regime. I’m telling you right now,” Lira said in one of them.
Carlson noted that the journalist was arrested for posting such reports inside a “supposed democracy.”
After his release from prison, Lira tried to flee the country. According to his last posted video, the journalist nearly reached the Hungarian border before being arrested again.
In that video, Lira predicted his fate.
“I will definitely be sent to a prison labor camp, where I will most certainly die,” he said of what would happen to him should Ukrainian security forces catch up to him near the border.
They did. And according to his father, the journalist’s prediction came true.
While Lira lived, Carlson called him “a political prisoner in a country that we were told was free.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. government showed indifference to the journalist’s welfare.
“The Biden State Department is uninterested in the fate of this American citizen. In fact, of course, they support his imprisonment,” Carlson said.
Predictably, the establishment media followed the Biden administration’s lead.
For instance, last month, Business Insider described Lira as a “Russian propagandist.”
The same article noted with disapproval that both Carlson and X owner Elon Musk had raised awareness of his plight.
“Carlson himself has generated controversy for promoting Kremlin propaganda and being highly critical of US support for Ukraine,” the outlet said.
Musk, meanwhile, “has increasingly championed right-wing causes and rhetoric.”
Thus did Business Insider assure its readers that they need not concern themselves with the journalist’s fate. After all, if Carlson and Musk supported him, then he must have deserved imprisonment.
In May, when asked about Lira’s initial arrest, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller gave an evasive and disingenuous answer.
“We obviously support the exercise of freedom of speech anywhere in the world, and I’ll leave it at that,” Miller said in response to a reporter’s question.
The Biden administration, of course, does not support free speech but in fact has tried to suppress it.
Even Lira’s death barely elicited a reaction from administration officials.
In fact, according to journalist Breanna Morello, the State Department resorted to something resembling a form letter.
“EXCLUSIVE: The State Department just responded to my request for comment regarding Gonzalo Lira’s death. You’ll notice the State Department doesn’t say Gonzalo Lira’s name. This appears to be a generic statement,” Morello said in an X post on Saturday.
Nor did the State Department answer Morello’s inquiries.
“They also won’t address my questions which were: During Lira’s detainment, did the State Department ever reach out to the Ukrainian government on Gonzalo Lira’s behalf? If so, how many times and when? Is the State Department in touch with Gonzalo Lira‘s family?” she added.
EXCLUSIVE: The State Department just responded to my request for comment regarding Gonzalo Lira’s death.
You’ll notice the State Department doesn’t say Gonzalo Lira’s name.
This appears to be a generic statement.
They also won’t address my questions which were:
During Lira’s… pic.twitter.com/PmKEK0IveU
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) January 13, 2024
Of course the State Department had nothing to say. In the minds of Biden administration officials, every dissenter’s imprisonment or death strikes a blow for democracy.
