RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesIn a wide-ranging interview, Carlson and Biden bonded over their shared fears of the future, including artificial intelligence
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Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson claimed Monday that Israeli figures falsely told him Hunter Biden’s laptop contained graphic images of children.
Carlson, who once used the laptop story to criticize the Biden family while serving as a Fox News anchor, put to rest conspiracy theories about the laptop’s contents in a wide-ranging interview with the former president’s son – specifically the false allegations that the laptop contained abusive images of children.
“Can I just say one thing though, this is what I experienced during that time - the allegation that there was abusive minors proven on the laptop – that came from the Israelis,” Carlson told Biden.
While Biden’s laptop contained nude images of himself and women, there were no explicit images or videos of children. Allegations of such were the result of online conspiracy theories.
The “Tucker Carlson Show” host went further and claimed a man “connected to [Isreali Prime Minister] Netanyahu” had given a producer on his former Fox News show the misinformation about Biden’s laptop directly.
“They were behind that,” Carlson insisted.
The Independent has asked the Isreali government for comment.
Carlson did not provide further details about the alleged exchange with the person connected to Netanyahu.
The Hunter Biden laptop controversy unfolded in 2020 after the New York Post published an article alleging emails from the laptop’s hard drive proved corruption among the Biden family. Trump’s former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, reportedly provided the information to the news outlet.
The story became political drama because some social media platforms blocked access to the article, out of concern that it was Russian disinformation. Conservatives accused social media companies of censorship.
Among those who frequently discussed the laptop story was Carlson, who spent more than 2 hours of airtime on the topic within weeks of the New York Post article coming out, according to an estimate by Media Matters for America.
Six years later, Carlson sat across from Biden, giving the former president’s son the space to deny accusations associated with the laptop controversy – including those of corruption between himself and his father before the 2020 presidential election.
Monday’s interview depicted the middle ground between Carlson and Biden, who historically are on opposite sides of the political spectrum under the second Trump administration.
Carlson, once a staunch Trump ally, has broken from the MAGA movement, citing frustrations with Trump’s foreign affairs – particularly related to Iran and Israel. Biden, who spent years at the center of conservative conspiracy theories, has recently embarked on a media campaign, being unabashedly honest about his drug addiction, political position and more.
Much of the interview between Carlson and Biden was about finding common ground.
Early on, Biden admitted there are a handful of conservative figures, such as Rep. Thomas Massie, former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and podcaster Candace Owens – all of whom have been criticized by Trump.
”I love Candace,” Biden said, calling the conservative podcaster “a really, really good person” who is “thoughtful” and “generous.”
While Biden admitted he has differing political views from many, including Carlson, he highlighted that he maintained human relationships with people anyway. At one point, Carlson and Biden joked about a letter of recommendation that Biden wrote for Carlson’s son to go to college – though Carlson’s son did not get accepted to the school.
Carlson, a newly established critic of Trump, discussed Trump’s shortcomings with Biden, who accused the president of increasing the political divide in the United States.
“You know everybody says he’s just a symptom of the disease and the reality is I think he’s one of the most transformational individuals in our political history. All for ill,” Biden said.
He added: “I believe Trump is central to why this disease has gone from a local epidemic to a pandemic in the United States of America.”
Despite his statement, Biden insisted that he does not believe Trump is the source of all evil in the world – which Carlson agreed with.
Carlson admitted he is “implicated” in helping establish Trump’s credibility before the 2024 presidential election.
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