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Fox News’ Tucker Carlson said Rep. McCaul told people his show is “an organ of Russian disinformation.”
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Carlson accused Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, of slandering him.
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Carlson has repeatedly praised Putin before the invasion of Ukraine, but has admitted he was wrong to do so.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson said that a Republican lawmaker had slandered him by accusing him of spreading Russian disinformation.
Speaking about Texas GOP Rep. Michael McCaul on his show Thursday, Carlson said: “In recent days, McCaul has told a number of people that this show is an organ of disinformation.”
Carlson said that McCaul was effectively saying that: “In other words, not only are we wrong — which is fine —we are disloyal Americans. We’re doing the bidding of a foreign power.”
“That is not fine,” Carlson said. “That is slander.”
Carlson did not provide any more evidence for McCaul’s alleged claims, and it is not clear who McCaul is supposed to have made the comments to.
Insider has contacted both Fox News and McCaul for comment.
McCaul has been highly critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He tweeted on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will be remembered as a war criminal” and said: “History will judge us for how we respond, and we must continue to support Ukraine with lethal weapons and air defense.”
McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also praised the “will of the Ukrainian people have defied all expectations” and said the US should send more longer-range air defense systems to Ukraine on Thursday.
Carlson repeatedly praised Putin before the invasion of Ukraine began, and questioned why America should support Ukraine over Russia. On Thursday, he made a u-turn to say that Putin is to blame for the crisis.
Mother Jones reported that a leaked Kremlin memo advised Russian state media to feature Carlson “as much as possible.”
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