Tucker Carlson asks 'Who's siding with Putin?' 3 years after he said he was 'rooting for Russia'

Tucker Carlson has been in the news over recent weeks, after Mother Jones reported that it had obtained a 12-page document from the Kremlin that instructed state-friendly media outlets to air footage of Tucker’s show on Fox News.

It also summed up Carlson’s take on the invasion of Ukraine as: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.”

It led many to look back at Carlson’s comments surrounding Putin and Russia, and now resurfaced footage from 2019 shows the presenter saying he was ‘rooting for Russia’ as tensions around Ukraine rose.

Now, the presenter has asked 'who's siding with Putin?' during a recent episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight - and as it turns out, he said he was just a few years ago.

As journalist Aaron Rupar posted on Twitter, back in 2019 Carlson said: “Why do I care what's going on in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? And I'm serious. And why shouldn't I root for Russia? Which I am."

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The clip is then juxtaposed with footage of Carlson in 2022, who claims: "Who's siding with Putin? I haven't seen anybody do that."

It comes after reports that the Kremlin is happy for Russian people to listen to Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, as other outlets are censored in the country.

A memo obtained by Mother Jones reads: “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally.”

The presenter said he was 'rooting for Russia' in 2019 Getty Images

The memo also includes a Tucker quote Kremlin officials really enjoyed: “And how would the US behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?”

Carlson has previously asked viewers to question why they hate Putin, and he also rebuked US allies recently for taking action against Russian state broadcaster RT.

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