Newsmax host Eric Bolling has urged Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to stop creating fodder for Russian propaganda, telling his former colleague, “You’ve gone too far.”
Bolling similarly called out Carlson earlier this month and again criticized the right-wing personality on Tuesday for supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and his disinformation campaign to justify the invasion of Ukraine.
“My compadre continues to push falsehoods that Putin and his propagandists are exploiting to show that, yes, some Americans do indeed side with Russia in this war,” Bolling said in a clip captured by Mediaite.
“Is that the side of history ... you want to be on?” he said, addressing Carlson. “There are far too many wars right here in our own country.”
Bolling, who left his longtime hosting gig at Fox News in 2017 after he was investigated for alleged sexual harassment of multiple female colleagues, said he agreed with Carlson that “most Americans don’t want to get further involved in Ukraine.”
“But isn’t it possible to make that point without seeming to be on Putin’s side?” he asked.
Carlson has repeatedly promoted pro-Russia and anti-Ukraine rhetoric as Putin wages a brutal war on the neighboring nation, leaving thousands of civilians dead in what President Joe Biden has called a genocide.
Multiple excerpts from Carlson’s show have been translated to serve as propaganda on Russia’s state-sponsored TV. In March, Mother Jones magazine reported on a leaked memo in which the Kremlin directed state media to use Carlson’s segments “as much as possible” due to his criticism of the U.S. and NATO and his defense of Russia.