Fox News host Tucker Carlson has come under fire in past weeks for driving Russian propaganda and downplaying the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Mother Jones, a progressive American magazine, reported on Sunday that they had obtained a leaked Kremlin memo urging state-friendly stations to use more talking points from Tucker Carlson Tonight in their programs.
“It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” the March 3 document reads.
The document also included a Carlson quote demonstrating his view on what he calls a “border dispute,” “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.”
Carlson urged his viewers to question “How would the U.S. behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?”
The document was leaked by a contributor to a national Russian media outlet, but the source asked to remain anonymous. The source told the magazine that this memo was not a one-off and there have been additional similar memos sent to media organizations.
One of them encouraged Russian media to echo Carlson’s statements concerning U.S. President Joe Biden‘s sanctions on Russia, calling them a “punishment for the American middle class.”
This week, Carlson also pushed the Moscow-backed theory that the U.S. owns and operates bio labs in Ukraine. The White House and NATO have denied the claim, warning that the conspiracy could be a coverup for their own chemical attack. Fact-checkers have also reported that the information is untrue.
