Tucker Carlson Funded by Russia's RT, Justin Trudeau Says

Source: Newsweek

Published Oct 18, 2024 at 5:24 AM EDT | Updated Oct 18, 2024 at 10:22 AM EDT


Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said under oath that Tucker Carlson is funded by a Russian state-owned media outlet, without providing evidence for the claim. Trudeau made the allegation about Carlson and fellow conservative media personality Jordan Peterson while testifying at a public inquiry into foreign interference on Wednesday.

The Canadian prime minister was addressing alleged Russian influence in spreading anti-vaccine messaging in the media and on social media during the "Freedom Convoy," a protest against COVID-19 vaccines and restrictions in Canada in early 2022. "We have seen that anti-vax messages during the convoy, during the pandemic, were amplified by Russian propaganda, especially in the media of the right," Trudeau said, per a translation from French by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

He added that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several of these channels began spreading "pro-Putin propaganda." "We've recently seen that RT is currently funding bloggers and other YouTube personalities of the right, such as Jordan Peterson.

Other names that are well known, Tucker Carlson as well, in order to amplify messages that are destabilizing democracies," Trudeau said, naming the Russian state-controlled network. Trudeau did not provide evidence for the claim and Newsweek has been unable to independently verify it. The Tucker Carlson Network, his streaming platform, had previously denied that it had "done any deals with state media in any country."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-russia-justin-trudeau-1971060