It may be that, once again, Moscow seeks first and foremost to create confusion in Washington; that the Kremlin propagandists want to mock the United States. But the truth is that, as soon as the news of Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox broke, both the television channel RT (Russia Today) and the popular and extremist presenter of Russian state television Vladimir Solovyov offered a job to his far-right American colleague. ; It would seem that they want to compensate him for his constant questioning of Western support for Ukraine and for his interventions in defense of Vladimir Putin, very much in the style of Donald Trump.
“Dear Tucker: Today, the big media in the US have lost their last remaining voice of reason. We fully support your decision to leave Fox â€, Solovyov started in a message that he posted on his Telegram account. He did not notice that, according to all indications, it seems that it was Rupert Murdoch’s chain that forced the departure of his star, and not the other way around.
“You have our admiration and support in any challenge you choose for yourself now, whether it’s running for president of the United States (which, by the way, you should do) or developing an independent media project,” continued the Russian journalist, a fervent supporter of the not only to take Ukraine but to attack it with nuclear weapons.
“We will gladly offer you a job if you wish to continue as a presenter! You will always be welcome in Russia; We wish you the best of luckâ€, emphasized the commentator. And, along with the screenshot of the message, he added a few lines to insist: “Tucker, join us. Here you don’t have to be afraid of making fun of Biden.”
Shortly before the attack on Ukraine in February 2022, Carlson raised more fuss than usual for him – a lot – by brashly defending Vladimir Putin against an evil Joe Biden, ruling that the massive displacement of Russian troops to the neighboring country was due to to a mere “border disputeâ€, to conclude that the US was playing dirty in the conflict: the US rulers, he said, “just don’t need a big, independent country like Russiaâ€. Ukraine is a “State Department-administered puppet of the West,†he added. And he asked himself: “Why do I have to hate Putin? Because the Democrats in Washington have told us that it is a patriotic duty; It is not a suggestion to hate him, it is a mandate, â€he denounced. His statements were so strong that many considered them an ironic provocation, and even he himself ended up saying that he was joking.
But then he insisted, both in his sympathy for Putin and in his attacks on Ukraine, whose president, Volodimir Zelensky, last December he called a “dictator” and a “dangerous authoritarian who has used $100 billion of our tax dollars to build a one-party police state.
These interventions earned Carlson the honor of being repeatedly quoted by the Russian media, which practically made him a hero. So even the Kremlin joined directly in lamenting his break with Fox. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday, after the presenter left: “Perhaps it is useful to consider how free speech is in USA. I heard that Tucker Carlson left Fox. That’s funny news. What is it related to? One can only intuit. But the result is that, clearly, the richness of viewpoints in American news has suffered.”
For their part, those responsible for the RT television channel, banned in the European Union and outside the US since March 2022, invited Carlson to work with them through a concise tweet: “Hey, @TuckerCarlson, you can always do more ask with @RT_comâ€.
Fox abruptly announced the termination of the presenter on Monday, six days after the company agreed to pay $787.5 million in compensation to the Dominion vote counting company for falsely accusing it of participating in the alleged electoral fraud denounced by Donald Trump. in 2020. Carlson, who had just been sued by former producer Abby Grossberg for “misogyny and discrimination,†was of course an important piece in defending Trump’s hoax.
