Donald Trump, Man of Love and Nuance?

I think the word Tucker is looking for is "unbelievable."

Tucker Carlson on his conversation with President Trump: "His understanding of world affairs is so much more nuanced and sophisticated and pro-American than the moronic neocons currently in charge. It was remarkable." pic.twitter.com/BYKfLBjUoE

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) April 12, 2023

At 4:24 of the video below, the former President can be seen stating

First of all, Ukraine's been obliterated. O.K., let's not even talk- nuclear. But let's say it wasn't, let's say they were doing better than anticipated, uh, if he decided to use his second form of destruction, which is nuclear, that's the end of the world. You understand?

Trump then remarked that, of course, Carlson understands, which only makes sense because both he and his interviewee are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russian.

So, let's "talk nuclear," which Trump argues here is never done, although it is.  In October, CBS News explained

Tactical nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as "small nukes," even though they still cause devastating fatalities and destruction. They are designed for limited strikes against relatively close specific targets, like command posts, instead of destroying cities from afar.

The explosive yield of tactical nuclear weapons can range from under one kiloton to about 100 kilotons, whereas strategic nuclear weapons can have a yield up to one thousand kilotons. The bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 were between 12 and 21 kilotons. The one dropped on Hiroshima weighed 9,700 pounds and a 10,800-pound bomb leveled Nagasaki. 

Tactical nuclear weapons can have a similar yield or greater — up to several times as powerful as the Nagasaki bomb — but they are often smaller and more portable. For instance, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union developed devices small enough to fit into a suitcase-sized container....

There is a wide range. Over 70,000 people are estimated to have died immediately when the U.S. bombed Hiroshima. Thousands of others later died due to poisoning from the radiation.

However, that wouldn't necessarily occur if Russia were to launch a nuclear weapon against Ukraine because

Tactical nuclear weapons, by design, do not have as much radioactive fallout, since they are used against a specific target, but there is still some fallout.

Nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein has built a simulation called NukeMap to estimate the effects of nuclear strikes. According to NukeMap, if the Davy Crockett, the smallest U.S.nuke ever produced, were to be used on a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., it would kill 3,270 people and injure 3,620. Other tactical nuclear weapons are larger and would result in a more devastating death toll.

Consequently, we don't know what impact a tactical nuclear weapon would have. Yet, Donald Trump says "that's the end of the world" if one is set off  He's either ignorant or wants people to believe that the world will blow up unless Ukraine caves to Russia.  Or both.

Carlson's claim that Trump's understanding of world affairs is more pro-American than that of neocons is possibly even more ludicrous than his characterization of it as nuanced and sophisticated. Lest we forget, Biden's immediate predecessor last Halloween tweeted on his Truth Social "our country is rigged, crooked and evil." That wasn't "Joe Biden" or "this Administration." It was "our country" which is evil.

Donald Trump obviously hates the United States of America. He wouldn't have called it "evil" otherwise. On second thought, in tweeting "our country,"  Trump might not have been referring to the USA. It's hard to believe, however, that he'd ever refer to Mother Russia as corrupt or evil.

 

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