Carlson calls Newsweek's 'bull****' an attempt to 'give the Biden administration a pretext'

Newsweek joined the establishment media Tuesday in advancing falsehoods and smearing Tucker Carlson. Although the outlet has since updated its piece to reflect a disparate reality, it nevertheless maintained its insinuation that the populist commentator is deferential to the Russian regime.

Some older episodes of Tucker Carlson's show were translated for the benefit of East Slavs, then broadcast on a state-owned Russian news channel. This was done "without legal permission," according Dean Thompson, head of programming and production operations at the Tucker Carlson Network.

Newsweek beclowned itself, reframing this theft as a partnership.

Blaze News previously detailed how Newsweek's "senior news reporter" Brendan Cole falsely claimed that "the show is part of a joint project with Carlson TV, in which he will interview figures and politicians who have 'alternative views to the mainstream.'"

Cole had apparently taken the Russian government newspaper Rossiskya Gazyeta at its word and reportedly refrained from checking in with Carlson or his team.

Neil Patel, CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network, made clear that "the Tucker Carlson Network has not done any deals with state media in any country," adding that "whoever is currently pretending to be the old Newsweek brand would know that if they had checked with us before printing like news companies are supposed to do."

Newsweek's smear, packaged as an article entitled, "Tucker Carlson launches show on Russian state TV," garnered a great deal of attention and plenty of traction, serving to bolster some critics' biases in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The corresponding post on X garnered millions of impressions and hundreds of reposts, including by bloggers such as Bari Weiss as well as longtime Carlson critics like Julia Ioffe and "The Daily Show" correspondent Jordan Klepper.

'It's pretty dark.'

Even though the tweet has since been taken down and the article has been altered, the damage appears to have been done. Various blogs and publications — including the Kyiv-based Ukrainska Pravda — that ran with the claim have yet to provide corrections.

Some online exponents of Newsweek's false narrative, such as Heath Mayor of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, have even refused to cede the ground they believe they gained in the ongoing war on Tucker Carlson's character when confronted with the real story.

Tucker Carlson told Philip Melanchthon Wegmann of RealClear Politics, "Total bull**** in every way."

"Newsweek is very obviously trying to give the Biden administration a pretext to read my personal communications under FISA," continued Carlson. "It's pretty dark."

Biden recently ratified the bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, putting the government in a prime position to spy on Carlson — which may not be the first time.

Citing insights from "a whistleblower within the U.S. government," Carlson suggested in 2021 that the National Security Agency had "been monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an effort to take [his Fox News] show off the air."

When pressed about the Newsweek report, Carlson told CNN's Hadas Gold, "It's all fake, obviously, like most stories in American news media. Of course I have no partnership with Russia. The first I'd heard anything about this was [this] morning."

Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson responded, "It's important to note that this alarming incident appears to be more than 'fake news' — as if that wasn't bad enough — but a deliberate attack on Tucker Carlson and his media business."

"Newsweek, as is so much of the media today, is a pawn in a much larger game. It is clear that some in the federal government want to surveil him, if they don't already, because of his dissenting political views. This is dangerous stuff. Honest media outlets cannot continue allow this sort of thing to keep happening. We must work together to fight back," added Peterson.

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, host of "System Update," noted, "This original Newsweek headline predictably went viral, claiming Tucker Carlson has 'launched' a new program on Russia state TV. The 'edited' article now makes clear the whole story is bull**** — false — but it was an irresistible McCarthyite smear."

This is not the first time Carlson has been accused of collaborating with Russian state television to broadcast his show. The BBC's Francis Scarr spotted an ad for the Russian translation of Carlson's program, noting in September, "Russian state TV's rolling news channel Rossiya 24 seems to say that Tucker Carlson has landed himself a new job there."

In the face of a similar wave of outrage and ridicule, Carlson told the Financial Times' Max Seddon, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never heard of this, or the channel. Of course I'm not hosting a show on Russian television. That's absurd. Please."

"More Russia-related bull****. There's so much I can't keep up," added Carlson.

Blaze News has reached out to Dean Thompson for further comment and will update this article in the event of a response.

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