Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Tuesday criticized Tucker Carlson’s ouster from Fox News and implied that his ouster reflected a lack of support for free speech and differing viewpoints, a remark that follows public job offers made to the former primetime host by Kremlin-controlled outlets.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during a news conference at the United Nations.
Lavrov made his unprompted remarks about Carlson’s axing while addressing a press conference at the United Nations on Tuesday while criticizing the U.S. for denying visas to Russian journalists.
Pivoting the conversation towards the state of “freedom of speech in the United States” Lavrov called Carlson’s exit from Fox “curious news” and even asked “What is this related to? One can only guess.”
Lavrov then added that Carlson’s departure from Fox News means “the wealth of views in the American information space has suffered.”
Carlson has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s decision to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion and clips from his now-canceled primetime show have appeared regularly on Russian state-run outlets.
In his remarks to the press, Lavrov also claimed the European Union was increasingly becoming a militarized entity designed to contain Russia along with NATO.