Some of Cockburn’s wiser American friends like to say that Tucker Carlson has a lot in common with former British prime ministe Boris Johnson.
Both men are children of privilege who made their names in media. Tucker Carlson may not have gone into politics, as Johnson has, but he’s often been talked about as a future Republican president.
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It’s fair to say today, however, that Boris and Tucker don’t like each other much. Ever since the invasion of Ukraine, Boris has accused Carlson of “intimidating” Republicans who might otherwise support the funding of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Carlson, for his part, has called Johnson a “terrified old woman.”
Things just got nastier, too. Earlier this month, Boris suggested Carlson’s now infamous interview with Vladimir Putin was straight out of the “Hitler playbook.”
Carlson, never one to shrink from confrontation, reached out to Boris to propose a debate between them, mano a mano, at Oxford University or somewhere similar, but struggled to get anywhere. After some effort, however, he was able to get in touch with a Johnson advisor.
Johnson was keen but he had conditions. He wanted to be paid $1 million. He wanted the interview streamed on X. And he wanted Carlson to acknowledge that, after his interview with Russia’s leader, a showdown with a former British prime minister would help rebuild his reputation.
Carlson laughed off the last suggestion but told Johnson he would be willing to pay “$1 million in currency, gold or Bitcoin.”
Upon hearing that, Team Johnson duly kicked into gear and approached Carlson to arrange a meeting and — most importantly — the payment.
But Carlson yesterday decided to go public, denouncing Johnson for his avarice in an interview on Blaze TV.
“These people are sleazier than any Eastern Europeans I’ve dealt with,” Carlson told The Spectator.
Nobody said freedom was free. Still, Cockburn can’t help wishing the debate would happen. Might Elon Musk, Carlson’s new patron at X, cough up the necessary money?