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A war of words has broken out between Boris Johnson and Tucker Carlson over claims the former prime minister was willing to debate a controversial right-wing journalist for $1 million.
Mr. Carlson, who met with President Vladimir Putin this month, said Mr. Johnson had asked for $1 million for a sit-down interview about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
But Mr Johnson has disputed Mr Carlson’s account as “false”, with supporters of the former prime minister taking part in the interview as part of Mr Carlson’s $1 million donation to a Ukrainian veterans charity. He said he had offered to do so.
Mr Carlson also mocked Mr Johnson, joking: “His name isn’t actually Boris.”
(Getty)
Mr Johnson is believed to have withdrawn following the killing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Carlson has been ridiculed in recent weeks for his support for President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, with videos praising Russian shopping carts and praising Moscow’s subway system.
The remarks came after the former Fox News host gave a flirtatious two-hour interview with the authoritarian Russian leader.
Mr Johnson attacked Mr Carlson’s interview with President Putin, saying it came out of “Hitler’s playbook”.
He said American broadcasters were “the agents of a tyrant, the dictator’s dictator, and the traitors to journalism.”
And in a Mail+ column, he accused Carlson of betraying his “viewers and listeners around the world” by not taking on the Russian leader’s mission to “torture, rape and bomb kindergartens” in Ukraine. Was he trying to stem the flow of lies? ”
Carlson then fired back at the former prime minister to right-wing media outlet Blaze.
“Boris Johnson, who was British prime minister for a short time, calls me a Kremlin stooge or something,” he said.
Furthermore, he added: So I asked Boris Johnson for an interview. He has done so many times, because he constantly accuses me of being a Kremlin agent. He said no. “
Mr Carlson said he was told he would agree to an interview after contacting “a number of people who know Boris Johnson”, “but it would cost $1 million”.
“I said to the guy…I just interviewed President Vladimir Putin. I’m not going to defend Putin, but Putin didn’t ask for a million dollars. I mean, Boris Johnson Does that mean he’s much meaner than Vladimir Putin?
“Which one is true?”
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: “This account is false.”
Mr Carlson also mocked Mr Johnson, whose real name is Alexander Boris de Pfeffer Johnson.
“His name isn’t actually Boris…his name is Alex Johnson. He called himself Boris in high school. So this guy calling himself Boris is accusing me? ” he added.