Tucker Carlson Suggests Britain Would Be Better Off Losing World War II
The American commentator sparked backlash for his remarks, which were met with strong disagreement from Jacob Rees-Mogg and others.
In a recent episode of his online show, American commentator Tucker Carlson suggested that Britain might have been better off losing World War II. Carlson argued that the conflict led to the "destruction" of the British empire and country, a notion he presented to an incredulous Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Conservative Secretary of State.
Rees-Mogg countered Carlson's premise, describing World War II as a "classic good versus evil" conflict. He asserted that Britain "did the right thing" by defeating Adolf Hitler, stating that otherwise, "we'd be speaking German." Carlson then speculated that if Germany had won, at least a European language would be spoken in the UK, implying a preference over the current linguistic landscape, a comment Rees-Mogg dismissed, emphasizing the desire to speak English.
Carlson denied being a Nazi supporter, claiming he "tries to think clearly about cause and effect." However, his remarks drew widespread criticism. Republican Senator Ted Cruz responded on X, stating that "America is better off for winning WWII. And the world would be much worse off if the Nazis had won WWII. This is not complicated." The US ambassador to Israel also condemned Carlson's comments, calling them a "disgusting and sadistic insult" and questioning Carlson's stance on Hitler's atrocities.
In the same discussion, Carlson also made claims about the Russian economy being larger than Britain's. Rees-Mogg refuted this, providing figures that showed the UK's GDP is larger than Russia's, both in total and per capita. Rees-Mogg characterized Russia's economy as an "economic failure" due to corruption and mismanagement.
This is not the first time Carlson has faced criticism for controversial statements regarding historical events and figures. He previously drew condemnation for interviewing a guest described as a "Holocaust denier" who had called Winston Churchill the main villain of World War II. The White House issued a rebuke at the time, calling the interview a "disgusting and sadistic insult."