RT, a Russian state media outlet, did reach out to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Twitter and asked him if he would be interested in joining it, but did so in a nonspecific way. No announcement about Carlson joining the network as Washington bureau chief was made on April 25, 2023.
On April 24, 2023, a Twitter user claimed that Russian state media, RT, offered ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson its Washington bureau chief position.
"BREAKING: Russia Today will announce tomorrow that Tucker Carlson has joined the network as its Washington bureau chief," tweeted the account, whose profile describes its mission as "Exposing, investigating Russia Propaganda, Hybrid Warfare, War Crimes," tweeted. Snopes reached out to the user asking for evidence for the claim. We will update this report when – and if – we get a response.
The claim about RT's overture to Carlson needed context. There is no evidence that Russian state media offered the bureau job to the ex-Fox News host, who was known to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine and question the West's support of the invaded country. But RT did reach out to Carlson.
"Hey @TuckerCarlson, you can always question more with @RT_com," tweeted RT on April 24. So far, it does not appear to have gone beyond that initial outreach. 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."
When asked to elaborate and comment on the accuracy of the statement to Newsweek, RT's press office told Snopes, "The RT quote in Newsweek is accurate and appropriately attributed." RT declined to say whether it made any kind of specific job offer to Carlson.
A number of journalists, for example Trip Gabriel of The New York Times, took the tweet as a job offer to Carlson. "Russian state TV has offered Tucker a job," tweeted Gabriel.
Some others pointed to an explicit job offer from Vladimir Solovyov, a host on Russia-1 TV channel. "We'll happily offer you a job if you wish to carry on as a presenter and host!," Solovyov posted on his Telegram channel, an instant messaging service. In that message, Solovyov, a staunch supporter of Russia's war against its neighbor, offered Carlson "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."
Russian media watchers also reported on the Telegram message.
Various reports and claims about Carlson surfaced after Fox News announced it had "agreed to part ways" with its host of the weekly 8 p.m. program, "Tucker Carlson Tonight." The development came within a week of Fox News agreeing to pay a $787.5 million as a settlement over a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. The voting machine company filed a lawsuit against Fox News saying the network and some of its hosts and guest speakers spread lies about the company over the 2020 U.S. presidential election and harmed its reputation.
Given that there was no evidence of an explicit offer from RT to Carlson to be its Washington bureau chief, and that as of April 25 there had been no such announcement made, we rate the claim "False."