In a bombshell gambit, Russian state television has started airing repackaged segments from Tucker Carlson’s online show, complete with Russian voiceovers – except the conservative pundit and his team say they had no idea it was happening.
The mainstream media quickly picked up on the story with their own spin. Newsweek claimed early Tuesday, “Tucker Carlson launches show on Russian state TV.”
Indeed, the Kremlin propaganda channel Rossiya 24 has begun broadcasting a new program titled “Tucker. Rossiya 24” comprised of old episodes from Carlson’s former Fox News show that have been dubbed into Russian. However, Carlson and his media company vehemently deny any such deal with Russian state TV and said any stories otherwise are fake news.
Newsweek quietly walked back their headline, changing it to simply, “Tucker Carlson show aired by Russian state TV.”
“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,” Carlson told CNN in response to the initial reports.
His CEO at the newly-launched Tucker Carlson Network, Neil Patel, confirmed the show was taken and rebroadcast without any legal arrangements in place.
“The Tucker Carlson Network has not done any deals with state media in any country,” Patel put it bluntly. “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.”
A representative for the former Fox News host reiterated to The Hill: “Any use of our content by that channel is without legal permission.”
Carlson himself slammed the false report in a text message to Mediaite, blasting it as “completely absurd. Reporters are so dishonest and stupid. I’ve never even heard of this channel.”
While Carlson and his team dismissed the Russian broadcasts, the Kremlin propaganda machine is undoubtedly keen to associate itself with the controversial conservative media figure.
Rossiya 24’s website promotes the “Tucker” show by noting Carlson “has actively criticized U.S. authorities for helping Ukraine since the start of the [war].”
Indeed, Carlson has faced significant backlash in recent months from both sides inside the establishment beltway, as well as the mainstream media, for his controversial opinions amid Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.
Russian state TV is clearly trying to capitalize on his perceived anti-Ukraine, “America First” leanings by airing his former Fox News commentaries to domestic audiences with Russian voiceovers – but without any apparent legal rights or business agreements to do so.
The broadcasts are simply repackaged old Carlson episodes from days or weeks ago that were posted online in English. Rossiya 24 simply dubs them into Russian under the auspices of a newly-launched “Tucker” show for its viewers — to the delight of the mainstream media.
“An episode was aired Monday night, for example, featuring Carlson discussing conspiracy theories about Lyme disease being used as a bioweapon under the title ‘ticks – nuclear weapons for the poor,'” Vanity Fair claimed. “The same episode, minus the Russian voiceover, was available to American social media users on May 10.”
Carlson has argued that his stance as an independent conservative voice with no ties to corporate media interests since he was fired unceremoniously from Fox News is “liberating” and vital for public discourse.
“We’re the free channel, the free platform. You haven’t heard a number of those stories anywhere else,” Carlson said of his online venture. “Just putting out uncensored and honest news and opinions is incredibly liberating.”
For now though, it seems Russian state media has taken that independence to an entirely new level by pirating Carlson’s content – despite his team’s objections. It remains to be seen if any legal action will ensue over the apparent broadcast infringement serving Putin’s propaganda arm.