Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Tuesday that President Trump “bowed” before U.S. intelligence agencies by claiming he misspoke when he refused to denounce Russian election interference during a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“As the rage storm swirled, the president bowed to the inevitable, genuflecting before U.S. intelligence agencies whose judgment must never be questioned,” Carlson said on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
{mosads}He added that Trump “recited the now obligatory oath of loyalty to the spy bureaucrats now in charge of our country,” before playing a clip of Trump walking back comments he made on Monday while appearing next to Putin in Finland.
Trump said Tuesday he meant to say “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,” when asked about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election — as opposed to “would.”
Carlson described the clip as a “hostage tape,” saying that the president “buckled” to criticism from people who have themselves been “mismanaging” America’s foreign policy for years now.
“The people yelling the loudest about how the Russians are our greatest enemy and Trump is their puppet happen to be the very same people who have been mismanaging our foreign policy for the past two decades,” Carlson said.
Trump’s performance in Finland was widely condemned by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, with multiple figures describing him siding with Putin as a “disgrace.”
Multiple Fox News personalities criticized Trump for his behavior during the press conference, with Fox Business Network host Neil Cavuto calling it “disgusting.”
Carlson and fellow Fox prime-time personality Sean Hannity have taken a more supportive stance. In addition to comments regarding Trump’s claim he misspoke, Carlson asserted on Monday that Mexico has interfered in U.S. elections more successfully than Russia.
“I don’t think Russia is our close friend or anything like that,” Carlson said. “I think of course they try to interfere in our affairs. They have for a long time. Many countries do. Some more successfully than Russia, like Mexico, which is routinely interfering in our elections by packing our electorate.”