Boris Johnson attacked popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his anti-war stances, saying he was “horrified” by how many Republicans listen to him.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council, the neoconservative think tank, as part of a wider speaking tour on Wednesday, the former British Prime Minister said that he was “amazed and horrified” by how many Republicans in Washington are “frightened of a guy called Tucker Carlson.”
After asking the audience whether they had heard of Tucker, Johnson said that “all these wonderful Republicans seem somehow intimidated by his perspective,” such as that World War Three might not be such a good idea.
Watch the clip on Spreely.video:
Johnson admitted that he hasn’t watched any of Tucker’s content, but he was “struck” by how often his name comes up when speaking to Republicans.
“Bad ideas are getting into, starting to infect some of the thinking around the world about what Putin stands for, what he believes in, it’s a disaster,” Johnson said, suggesting that Tucker was behind this. “He stands for war, aggression, systematic murder, rape, and destruction. That’s what he stands for.”
Following the remarks from Johnson, Tucker explained to his audience on Wednesday night that he and his team had actually invited him onto his show the previous night.
Boris Johnson wades into the culture wars at @AtlanticCouncil this morning with this broadside against Tucker Carlson. pic.twitter.com/fHNm5u20JY
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) February 1, 2023
“We figured he was perfect,” Tucker said. “If there was one person on Earth who might plausibly explain how a war between nuclear-armed Western powers could benefit anyone but China, that man would be Boris Johnson.” The former PM had said he was interested, but then his publicist said he wasn’t coming on. “He was afraid to take questions about it. We found it disappointing.”
Tucker said that by attacking him and his anti-war stances away from his show, where he couldn’t respond, made Johnson a “coward,” and that it was “remarkably dishonest” to do so.
“I was shocked by it, honestly. I’d already lost respect for Boris during Covid, when he transitioned into a terrified old woman. But I had no idea he was a liar,” Tucker told the Spectator’s Cockburn. “I’m genuinely disappointed in the guy,” he added. “Like all dumb Americans I guess I’m easily charmed by witty Brits.”
