(Ottawa) Does Tucker Carlson really think the United States should invade its northern neighbor to “free it from the tyranny” of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government? We may never know.
A Fox News documentary focusing on this issue was supposed to air on Monday, but it ultimately won’t, as the star host’s abrupt departure last week derailed its release.
“There are no more new episodes of Tucker Carlson Originals scheduled” on the Fox Nation streaming service, a spokesperson for the American news channel said.
Mr. Carlson, who was one of Fox News’ most popular hosts, occasionally took aim at Canada and its Liberal government on his prime-time show. He was also a strong supporter of last year’s “freedom convoy”.
Nearly a year after that massive protest, in which people protesting health measures blocked access to downtown Ottawa and several border crossings, Mr. Carlson asked on the air why the United States had yet to take action in response to Canada’s public health restrictions — which, at the time he made the comments, had mostly been withdrawn.
“Why don’t we send an armed force to the north to liberate Canada from Justin Trudeau? And I mean it,” Carlson said Jan. 26.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, a former US ambassador to Canada stressed that this kind of comment, combined with Mr. Carlson’s dominant presence in the media landscape, was dangerous.
“Some people in Canada thought it was humor, but it wasn’t a joke, because of the people it attracts and follows,” said Bruce Heyman, who served as the representative for former President Barack Obama in Ottawa from 2014 until Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
“I think he was a dangerous actor,” he said.
Joke or not, this comment by Mr. Carlson was quickly condemned north of the border. New Democrat MP Matthew Green notably asked for the unanimous support of his colleagues on January 31 for a motion condemning the host’s remarks in the House of Commons – without however obtaining it.
The next day, Mr. Carlson took the opportunity to mock the move by the NDP MP, saying that he thought Canadians would appreciate his ideas.
Back to the “convoy”
Last month, Fox released a trailer for O Canada.
It showed a montage of people being arrested – including the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, and influential members of the “freedom convoy” – all wrapped up with excerpts from several former presidents. Americans talking about the liberation of citizens of other countries.
Mr. Bernier explained that he gave an interview to Fox in January or February for the documentary about his arrest, in June 2021, while participating in demonstrations against the measures related to the COVID-19.
Mr. Carlson had also interviewed Mr. Bernier on his show shortly after the arrest, which took place in Manitoba.
“I was imprisoned for a non-crime for 12 hours,” denounced Mr. Bernier in an interview Monday.
He insisted that the Canadian media did not cover the event adequately: “I know that many Canadians did not really know what happened to the leader of a national party fighting for freedom of choice. »
At the time, media quoted an RCMP spokeswoman as saying that Bernier had been arrested for “the prosecution of the offense of violating Manitoba public health orders”.
Regarding Mr. Carlson’s controversial statement, Mr. Bernier indicated that he thought the host was making a joke and that he disagreed with the idea of the United States interfering in the Canadian business.
He nevertheless maintained that Fox was “the only platform” offered to him to get his message across, because the Canadian media ignore him.
“They asked me to talk about my experience as the leader of a national party, and I did,” he said.