Boris Johnson, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, called out conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Around the world, people are watching that ludicrous interview with Vladimir Putin conducted by Tucker Carlson, and we must not fall for this tissue of lies above all for the notion that Putin is somehow fated to succeed in Ukraine. On the contrary, he is doomed to failure,” Johnson said in a video posted by the Daily Mail.
Carlson, a former pundit at Fox News, was pulled off the air by the network last year and has since launched his own media company and program on X, formerly known as Twitter. He announced Tuesday he would interview Putin, the first time a member of the Western media interviewed the Russian leader since he invaded Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Johnson, in a Daily Mail op-ed Friday, criticized Carlson’s interviewing, saying he was “fawning, guffawing” and had “slack-jawed happiness at having a ‘scoop.’” The former prime minister said he “betrayed” viewers around the world.
“He didn’t ask tough questions. He didn’t ask Putin why even now he is using the most brutal means of modern warfare to maim and murder innocent Ukrainian civilians,” Johnson wrote.
Instead, Carlson acted like a fan of Putin and “boneheadedly” accepted Putin’s “mixture of semi-masticated Wikipedia and outright falsehood,” Johnson argued.
During the two-hour interview, Putin said he was open to negotiating with the U.S. over the war in Ukraine, but he spent much of his airtime talking about history and repeating talking points to justify his decisions.
Johnson criticized Carlson for not holding up the efforts that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made since Russia began its attacks.
“Not since George Galloway went to Baghdad and hailed the indefatigability of Saddam Hussein have we seen such a display of bum-sucking servility to a tyrant,” Johnston argued, adding that Carlson was “just the medium, the sewer, the hose” for Putin to spread his message to America.
The former U.K. leader said he prays “that the people of the U.S. are able to see through last night’s unholy charade of an interview.” He also addressed the members of Congress who are blocking aid from being sent to Ukraine and said “for God’s sake, remember who you are.”