Capitalists, reactionaries, liberals, and fascists will cry crocodile tears for Princess Anastasia while voting to bomb brown children without a single second thought.
The propaganda aspect is especially obvious since OP’s friend invoked the nonsense emotional appeal of “would you shoot the Tsar if he were me?”
From OP's friend's perspective, it's likely a sensical appeal coming from a place of valuing life, which is an excellent opportunity to force him to confront the contradiction.
Over the past 7 years I've paid my car's initial worth in insurance payments, it's great.