A lot is being speculated about Tucker Carlson after he was fired by Fox News on Monday. The celebrity news anchor hasn't spoken since his ouster and speculation is rife about his future. On Tuesday, social media was abuzz with a claim that Russia's state media, RT, offered Carlson to join its Washington Bureau.
Social media users have since then been trying to know more about the development. The claim is completely false and as of now, there is no word from Carlson about any such development. However, RT did reach out to Carlson after he got fired from Fox News but that has nothing to do with his appointment.
Weird Claim
The claim surfaced on Twitter on Tuesday, a day after Carlson parted ways with Fox News. A user claimed that Russian state media, RT, has offered Carlson to join its Washington bureau as the chief.
"BREAKING: Russia Today will announce tomorrow that Tucker Carlson has joined the network as its Washington bureau chief," the tweet read.
The profile of the account from where the claim was posted describes its goal as "Exposing, investigating Russia Propaganda, Hybrid Warfare, War Crimes."
The account was contacted by Snopes about the authenticity of the claim but the user is yet to revert.
The claim regarding RT approaching Carlson to join its Washington Bureau required context.
There is no proof that the former Fox News personality, who was known to favor Russia's invasion of Ukraine and question the West's backing for the invaded country, was given the bureau job by the Russian official media.
No Connection With Hiring
However, RT did contact Carlson although it was not with a job offer. "Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com," tweeted RT on April 24, the day the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight was fired.
That's all the tweet said and there was no hint of RT offering Carlson a job.
RT provided a statement to Newsweek: "We already had the pleasure of working with the greats like Julian Assange and the late Larry King, and had extended an invite to President Trump in 2020, and we continue to welcome outspoken, diverse personalities on our network."
The RT press office later elaborated Snopes the accuracy of the statement given to Newsweek. "The RT quote in Newsweek is accurate and appropriately attributed." RT declined to say anything further and whether it made any kind of job offer to Carlson.
However, social media remain abuzz with the claim, with many prominent names falling prey to the false claim.
Several journalists mistook the tweet for a job offer to Carlson, including Trip Gabriel of The New York Times. "Russian state TV has offered Tucker a job," he tweeted.
Others cited a direct employment offer made by Russia-1 TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov. "We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host!," Solovyov posted on his Telegram channel.
Solovyov, a fervent supporter of Russia's conflict with Ukraine, wrote to Carlson in that message, offering him "admiration and support in any endeavor you choose for yourself next, be it running for President of the United States (which you should totally do, by the way) or making an independent media project."
However, since there was no concrete proof of an explicit offer from RT to Carlson to lead its Washington bureau the claim made on April 25 can be labeled false and baseless.
