Tucker Carlson brands Boris Johnson 'criminal buffoon' as he wades into Ukraine row
Tucker Carlson brands Boris Johnson 'criminal buffoon' as he wades into Ukraine row
PA/REUTERS/GETTY
Firebrand former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has branded Boris Johnson a “criminal buffoon” as he wades in on an ongoing row about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Johnson, who was seen as a key ally to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, locked horns with fellow Brexiteer Nigel Farage after the Reform UK leader warned the West provoked Vladimir Putin into attacking the ex-Soviet state.
The former Prime Minister is facing fresh criticism from Carlson after the conservative commentator claimed Johnson scuppered a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
Carlson said: “First, I’m stuck on the idea that Boris Johnson is a right-winger. Do you know Boris Johnson? I do. Boris Johnson is a criminal buffoon who, like so many who claim to love Ukraine, is single handedly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men in this war that Ukraine cannot win.
Tucker Carlson branded Boris Johnson 'criminal buffoon'
PA/REUTERS/GETTY“And I would just refer you to Wikipedia. How many more people does Russia have than Ukraine? Do you know? 100 million. And in a land where that’s a relevant number, it is not possible for Ukraine to beat Russia.
“The best they can do is go for peace. That’s been known, including by Zelensky, who wanted that since the early days of this conflict.”
He added: “And Boris Johnson, on orders from the Biden administration, shut down—and this is not a disputed fact, this is a fact admitted by everybody now—shut down the peace negotiations almost two years ago, and Ukraine has been completely destroyed.”
A row broke out between Carlson and Johnson earlier this year after the pair were discussing a sit-down interview.
Carlson claimed Johnson requested a $1million fee but the former Prime Minister only accepted this offer on the basis the money would go to Ukrainian charities.
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The 60-year-old was not pulling any punches when he used his Daily Mail column to accuse Carlson of being a “traitor to journalism” after sitting down for an interview with Putin.
However, more recently, a spat broke out between Johnson and Farage over Ukraine just last week.
Johnson weighed in after Farage sparked fury for claiming the West provoked Putin into invading Ukraine.
The ex-Prime Minister wrote on social media: "This is nauseating ahistorical drivel and more Kremlin propaganda.
"Nobody provoked Putin. Nobody ‘poked the bear with a stick’. The people of Ukraine voted overwhelmingly in 1991 to be a sovereign and independent country.
Tucker Carlson conducted the interview in the KremlinTucker Carlson"They were perfectly entitled to seek both Nato and EU membership. There is only one person responsible for Russian aggression against Ukraine – both in 2014 and 2022 – and that is Putin. To try to spread the blame is morally repugnant and parroting Putin’s lies."
Farage later accused Johnson of “hypocrisy”, adding: “He’s the worst Prime Minister of modern times.”
He cited a 2016 newspaper frontpage in which Johnson blamed the EU for Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
Farage also separately urged Zelensky to seek a peace deal with Russia, claiming: “Otherwise there will be no young men left in Ukraine”.
GB News has approached Johnson for comment.