The Murdochs Reportedly Spoke With Zelensky Ahead of Tucker Carlson’s Firing

DP/AAD/STAR MAX/IPx 2020

News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch both reportedly spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the months before Fox News host and outspoken Zelensky critic Tucker Carlson was fired from their news network.

Semafor reported on Monday that the senior Murdoch held an “unreported” call with Zelensky in spring of this year. During their call, the two men reportedly discussed Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia and the death of Fox News journalists Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova in Ukraine in March 2022. Semafor also reported that Murdoch’s son Lachlan held a separate call with Zelensky on March 15, where the two discusses similar topics.

While both meetings were held just weeks before Carlson’s sudden and unexpected departure from Fox News on April 24, Zelensky reportedly did not speak to either Murdoch about the Fox News host.

The report piqued the interest of several conservatives, including former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, who wrote, “Murdoch’s [sic] Fired Tucker after they talked to Zelensky…”

“Simply put: Tucker Carlson fired because he knew the truth about the war in Ukraine,” reacted conservative activist and 2020 Delaware Senate election candidate Lauren Witzke, while ACT for America founder Brigitte Gabriel accused Fox News of being “fake news.”

In April, the Washington Post reported that Murdoch was “disturbed” by Carlson’s opinions on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. On his 8pm show Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson frequently criticized the White House for sending tens of billions of dollars worth of aid to Ukraine and also took aim at Zelensky personally. In one segment, Carlson called Zelensky a “dictator,” while in another he criticized Zelensky’s decision to wear informal clothes to the White House, accusing him of dressing “like the manager of a strip club.”

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