Trump defenders downplay evidence of Russian collusion: "So what?" Tucker Carlson and friends insist that colluding with a foreign adversary to win an election is not a big deal

More and more evidence is mounting in the case against President Donald Trump and Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. The latest information from Trump's own attorney, Michael Cohen, indicates that the president knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower between his son and Kremlin-connected Russians. It is the most persuasive proof yet that the president had knowledge of Russia's intentions to influence the election.

Some Americans don't seem to care. Many right-wing pundits and politicos have tried to wave off the significance of this evidence. National Review editor Andrew McCarthy, for example, told Fox News viewers on Thursday that it would be acceptable for the Trump campaign to "turn to foreign governments for dirt."

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On Fox News, Andy McCarthy reacts to the Trump Tower meeting news by saying it's okay "for campaigns to turn to foreign governments for dirt" pic.twitter.com/6AniuWL4O2 — Brian Tashman (@briantashman) July 27, 2018

Federalist editor Mollie Hemmingway, meanwhile, told her Twitter followers she didn't "have a problem" with presidential candidates "getting dirt on election opponents from foreigners."

I don't have a problem w/ getting dirt on election opponents from foreigners. But if you do, why was it OK for Hillary Clinton to secretly hire a foreign spy to get dirt on her opponent from Kremlin officials, and seed that info into the media and weaponize it in the US gov't? — Mollie (@MZHemingway) July 27, 2018

On Friday night, Tucker Carlson was the latest Trump sycophant to endorse lite treason.

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"It's hard to see the point of all of this hysteria," he said on his show.

"What exactly would the crime here be? It's not illegal to talk to foreigners," he continued. "Nobody's claiming that any information changed hands. And even it did, so what?"

Like Hemmingway, Carlson attempted to equate what the Trump campaign allegedly did to the Hillary Clinton campaign's attempt to dig up information on Russia's election interference, which came in the form of the Christopher Steele dossier.

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Carlson said the dossier was "based on misinformation," despite the fact that much of the content in the dossier has been verified by U.S. officials.

No one is exactly surprised that Carlson and other right-wing commentators are trying to normalize collusion with a foreign adversary. Trump's defenders have continuously moved the goalposts when it comes to the Russia-election story. First, they insisted the Trump Tower meeting never happened. Then they conceded the meeting did happen, but it was not about the presidential election. Now that there is concrete evidence that the Trump campaign was aware of Russian meddling, the state of play is to ask: "So what?"

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the thing we all knew was going to happen is very much happening now https://t.co/v49zm4FYHr — Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 28, 2018

Him and so many others. They've been telegraphing that they'd eventually get here when kicking up dust no longer worked. https://t.co/qNmDS53WAs — Jim Swift (@JSwiftTWS) July 28, 2018

It took 14 months to go from "no collusion" to "collusion is good." https://t.co/ijnHpIBETl — David Solimini (@CommsDirector) July 28, 2018

This kind of thing was always inevitable. Fox News cannot financially afford to buck the president. Anywhere he goes, they will find a way to follow. https://t.co/6Qd6FUatoH — Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) July 28, 2018

This was always the end game for all of this. https://t.co/RYajZ0PMZR — Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) July 28, 2018

This is where it was always heading. https://t.co/6ijIDoDvEU — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 28, 2018

[July 2020, pee tape has been released] Tucker: "Liberals are losing their minds over this, but really, if you were a billionaire, wouldn't you want to watch some hookers pee on a bed Obama slept in? I know I would!" https://t.co/qjDEEB4tcF — Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) July 28, 2018

1. It didn't happen.

2. OK so it happened, but he didn't know about it.

3. Fine, maybe he knew about it, but nothing bad happened.

4. OK, even if something bad did happen, so what? https://t.co/rARHekQ0JM — Jon Passantino (@passantino) July 28, 2018

finally found the one foreign thing tucker will accept in america https://t.co/ME6UGZRfTN — Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 28, 2018

To end his segment Friday, Carlson tried to explain to his audience what the Democrats were doing by propping up the Robert Mueller investigation.

"It's a political tactic," Carlson said. "You scream as loud as you can in the hope that your opponents will be intimidated into accepting your fraudulent premise."

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Fox News viewers should heed Carlson's warning. He knows exactly what he's talking about.

Watch Carlson's full interference campaign below: