While Carlson deserves points for having an original point of view on Ukraine, his originality has not produced much in the way of imitators. Most high-profile conservative outlets, such as the National Review, the Dispatch, Commentary, the Washington Examiner, George F. Will and Washington Times have failed to second Carlson’s affection for Putin. They largely support Ukraine while damning Biden for not having done more to nullify the crisis. Fox News and OAN appear to be doing more monitoring of the clash than Carlson-style editorializing.

It almost suggests a return to politics-as-normal with the right-wing media returning to its hawkish pre-Trump roots, aided by an eagerness to slam a Democratic president.

As my POLITICO colleagues reported today, the Republican Party has yet to unify around one Ukraine position, but most have lined up with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, with only Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance adopting anything close to Carlson’s Putin stance. Donald Trump, a Putinphile of longstanding, the nominal leader of the Republican Party, and usually the biggest mouth on any hot news topic has offered only subdued commentaries, compared to Carlson. In a podcast released Tuesday, Trump did engage in some predictable praise of Putin but as always his response seemed mostly rooted in his fury over his loss to Biden.