Tucker Carlson has come under fire for platforming a guest who claimed Winston Churchill “was the villain of Second World War” and that millions of people “ended up dead” in Nazi concentration camps.
On Monday, the right wing media personality hosted self-proclaimed historian Darryl Cooper on his podcast show – a man who has been accused of being a “Nazi apologist” for comments which appear sympathetic towards Adolf Hitler.
The two-hour conversation was condemned by many on social media, including Liz Cheney – whereas Elon Musk promoted the video to his 196.5 million X followers, calling it “very interesting” and “worth watching.”
The controversial tech billionaire appears to have since deleted his post.The Independent has contacted X for comment.
During the podcast show, former Fox News host Carlson, who hailed Cooper “the most important historian in the United States”, asked him how he would assess Churchill.
Cooper, explaining that he was being “a little hyperbolic”, said: “I thought Churchill was the villain of the Second World War.”
He continued: “He didn’t kill the most people, he didn’t commit the most atrocities… I think when you get into it and tell the story right, you see he was primarily responsible for that war becoming what it did.”
Cooper, after acknowledging this doesn’t mean he believes Hitler was WW2’s “protagonist”, went on to explain how the Nazis “launched a war they were completely unprepared to deal with”.
Six million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazis in concentration camps by the end of the Holocaust in a calculated plan to eradicate Europe’s Jewish population.
Cooper sparked fury by downplaying the death camps and for suggesting the Nazis expressed “humanity” while he cited letters from German soldiers.
“[The Nazis] are saying: ‘We can’t feed these people, we don’t have the food to feed these people.’ One of them says [in a letter]: ‘Rather than wait for them to slowly starve this winter, wouldn’t it be more humane to quickly finish them all off now?’”
Both conservatives and liberals quickly called out Carlson for giving Cooper a platform for his comments.
Former Republican congresswoman Cheney slammed Carlson for peddling “pro-Nazi propaganda”.
“Actually, this is pro-Nazi propaganda, including, ‘Churchill was the chief villain of WW2’ and Hitler ‘didn’t want to fight.’ No serious or honorable person would support or endorse this type of garbage,” she said in a post on X.
Conservative commentator Erick Erickson said: “Didn’t expect Tucker Carlson to become an outlet for Nazi apologetics, but here we are.”
And anti-hate organization Anti-Defamation League said: “Tucker Carlson’s praise of Nazi apologist Darryl Cooper is an insult to the memory of the 6,000,000 Jews who were murdered by Hitler’s Nazi regime.”
The Republicans Against Trump account also chimed in saying: “Tucker Carlson just hosted a Nazi apologist to explain why Hitler wasn’t so evil and how Winston Churchill was the real ‘bad guy’. This is a reminder that Tucker Carlson got a major speaking slot at the Republican Convention and speaks regularly with Donald Trump.”
The Independent has contacted Cooper and Carlson for comment.
Cooper responded to the backlash on X, posting a lengthy thread on X where he said his intention was “not to defend the actions of the Third Reich or any of its leaders” but to argue “of all the belligerent leaders, Churchill was the one most intent on prolonging and escalating the conflict into a world war of annihilation.”
“Germany and Italy did not want it – in fact, before the conquest of Western Europe, German leaders including Hitler were skeptical that they’d be able to take on Britain in a fight,” he added.
“We can be skeptical of Hitler’s motives for offering peace again and again, and for holding back against British civilians despite months and months provocations, but the fact is that Germany was offering peace, and by all accounts sincerely wanted it.”
Cooper has a history of making offensive comments in connection to the Nazis.
Multiple reports cited a photo Cooper posted on X during the Olympic Games in July, where he shared a picture of Hitler by the Eiffel Tower. In the post, which has since been taken down, he appeared to suggest Nazi-occupied France was “preferable” to modern-day Paris during the 2024 opening ceremony.
“This may be putting it too crudely for some but the picture on the left was infinitely preferable in virtually every way than the one on the right,” he said.
After deleting that post, Cooper appeared to address the backlash. “I like posting provocative s***, seeing how close I can step up to various lines with going over them,” he said in a post on X. “But there are a few people who, even though they often disagree w/me, try to give me the benefit of the doubt, and when they tell me I’ve crossed over, I check myself. Simple.”
Following the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler on July 13, Cooper made another bizarre comment about Hitler.
He posted on X the following day: “If you’re having a bad day, just remember that the Trump shooter is currently wandering around Hell looking for Hitler while the two guys Kyle Rittenhouse dropped figure out how to break the news to him.”