Tucker Carlson Fact-Checked by Russian State TV Over Jamie Raskin Comment

Recent comments made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson have been widely criticized as inaccurate, with figures on Russian state-run TV even correcting him.

The comments from Carlson originated from a broadcast in late October in which he discussed the U.S. government's continued support of Ukraine, with the host, as ever, being critical of the sanctions placed against Russia in response to the invasion. In attempting to give a reason for this dynamic, Carlson cited a supposed statement from Maryland Democrat Representative Jamie Raskin.

"Well this week Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, of Bethesda, answered that question," Carlson said. "Russia is an orthodox Christian country with traditional social values and for that reason it must be destroyed no matter what the cost to us. So, this is not a conventional war, this is a Jihad. Jamie Raskin said that out loud but many in Washington agree with him."

This segment became widely shared across social media, especially by Russian figures. Some, like Russian media analyst Maria Dubovikova, attributed whole parts of Carlson's alleged summation to Raskin directly.

The truth, however, was not quite as the popular Fox host suggested it. While Carlson did not specifically cite where the comment from Raskin came from, he most likely referred to a blog post the congressman published on October 25, in which he said that opposition to Russia's plans for Ukraine doubled as opposition to Russia's regressive societal norms.

"Moscow right now is a hub of corrupt tyranny, censorship, authoritarian repression, police violence, propaganda, government lies, and disinformation, and planning for war crimes," Raskin wrote. "It is a world center of antifeminist, antigay, anti-trans hatred, as well as the homeland of replacement theory for export. In supporting Ukraine, we are opposing these fascist views, and supporting the urgent principles of democratic pluralism."

Newsweek's own fact check of Carlson's claims concluded that they were a false misrepresentation and that Raskin never said that Russia should be destroyed.

On Tuesday, Julia Davis, an analyst and expert on Russian media, shared a clip from a Russian news program in which the host shared played the segment of Carlson discussing Raskin's view on Russia. When the host went to other panelists on the show for comment, one admitted that "that's not really what Raskin said," going on to say that Carlson extracted that meaning from the congressman's words "because he feels that to be the real essence of the confrontation with Russia."

Carlson has often been accused of overt sympathy toward Russian causes, with clips from his program frequently being used in Russian state-run news.

"Meanwhile in Russia: Tucker Carlson's lies are too much even for Kremlin propagandists, who fact-check Tucker," Davis wrote in summation of the clip.

Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.