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.”
Carlson was the highest-rated cable TV host before he left Fox News in April 2023. He launched a new show on Twitter called Tucker on Twitter, which later changed to Tucker on X with the social media network’s rebranding.
Newsweek reached out to Carlson via email through the Tucker Carlson Network and Peterson via email outside of regular working hours. This article will be updated if either responds.
Peterson, the Canadian psychologist and commentator, denied Trudeau’s claim in a post on X, writing: “Hey Russians! Where the hell is my money?! @justintrudeau strikes again. Whiffing at a foul ball.”
“Rubles are stuffed in my mattress. Comfortable. Tee hee,” Peterson added in another post.
Tucker Carlson at the Turning Point Action USA conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 15, 2023; and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a press conference on October 14, 2024, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
GIORGIO VIERA/DAVE CHAN/Getty Images, AFP via Getty Images
Earlier in his testimony Trudeau referenced a recent U.S. Department of Justice indictment which said that RT employees paid millions of dollars to conservative US-based company Tenet Media to produce content and carry out a secret influence campaign.
However, the DOJ indictment did not name either Carlson or Peterson.
RT, formerly Russia Today, is described by the DOJ as a key tool for spreading Kremlin propaganda. It was banned in the European Union, Canada and the United Kingdom following the invasion of Ukraine.
The network was known as Russia Today before it was rebranded.
Critics have accused Carlson of echoing Russian propaganda talking points on his show, particularly regarding the war in Ukraine.
He courted further controversy by traveling to Moscow in February 2024 to interview Vladimir Putin, during which the Russian president made several false or misleading statements that Carlson failed to challenge.
Carlson had said before the interview that he was talking to Putin to help inform Americans.
“Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now,” he said in a video statement.
“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin….We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview, but we are urging you to watch it. You should know as much as you can.”
