Tucker Carlson alleges Biden administration spied on him to stop Putin interview, White House refutes it as ‘ridiculous’
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, has accused the Biden administration of trying to sabotage his upcoming interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Why Tucker Carlson thinks Biden tried to stop him from talking to Putin REUTERS/Caitlin O’Hara/File Photo(REUTERS)
He made this claim in a preview video posted on X, where he said he was in Moscow to talk to Putin about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
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Americans have a right to know: Carlson
Carlson said that the Biden administration had illegally spied on his text messages and leaked them to the media in order to prevent him from interviewing Putin three years ago. He also said that he was “pretty certain” that they did the same thing last month, but he decided to go to Moscow anyway.
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He said that “Americans have a right to know” what Putin thinks about the war that he is waging against Ukraine, a US ally. Carlson has been a vocal critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is backed by the US and other Western countries.
White House rips Tucker Carlson’s ‘ridiculous’ accusation
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed Carlson’s allegations as “ridiculous” during her regular briefing on Tuesday. She initially said that she would not comment on Carlson’s interview or claims, but then she changed her mind and said, “I actually want to go back to your question.”
She said that Carlson’s statement was “a ridiculous premise and a ridiculous statement” about the administration. She added, “So I just want to be very very clear — it’s just ridiculous.”
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Carlson did not provide any details or evidence to support his accusation that the Biden administration had spied on him and leaked his texts. He made a similar allegation in June 2021, when he said that a whistleblower had informed him that the National Security Agency was “monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.”
The NSA denied this allegation at the time. Some of Carlson’s text messages have been revealed by news outlets, including in a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which showed his views on protesters and former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.
