Tucker Carlson has been mocked for a fawning video praising Moscow’s “cheap and fresh” food while overlooking the much lower wages in Russia.
The former Fox News firebrand wheeled a shopping cart through a Russian hypermarket while marveling at the stock as he continued his PR tour with Putin.
At one point, Tucker, 54, exclaims, ‘Look at that!’ while he smells a loaf of bread while jovial music plays. But the soundtrack turns somber when Tucker reaches the checkout and notices the price equivalent to $400 for a week’s worth of shopping for him and his team.
He says the revelation made him go from feeling “amused to legitimately angry” that his home country apparently charges so much more for basics like food.
The video sparked widespread ridicule from people online, as many pointed out the disparity between the average salary in Russia, which is the equivalent of $9,072, or 6.5 times less than the average salary in the United States of $59,428.
Tucker Carlson has been mocked for a fawning video praising Moscow’s “cheap and fresh” food while overlooking the much lower wages in Russia. The former Fox firebrand strolled with a trolley through a Russian supermarket as he marveled at the price and quality of the stock.
At one point, Tucker, 54, exclaims, ‘Look at that!’ while he smells a loaf of bread while jovial music plays. But the soundtrack turns somber when Tucker reaches the checkouts and notices the price equivalent to $400 for a week’s worth of food for him and his team.
The video drew widespread ridicule from people online, as many pointed out the disparity between the average salary in Russia, which is the equivalent of $9,072, or 6.5 times less than the average salary in the United States of $59,428.
Many joked that he was working for free as a one-man ‘tourism marketing team’ for Vladimir Putin’s country.
“Tucker says groceries in Russia cost about 1/4 of what they cost in the US,” one person wrote on X.
“What he doesn’t mention is that the average Russian salary is one-fifth of the average American salary.”
Even his fans despised him. “I love Tucker, but this $104 food charge is misleading when you consider that the average salary of a Russian citizen is about $14,771 according to Google,” said one supporter.
“Tucker should also live for a month on an average Russian salary, in an average Russian apartment, and see what his grocery budget looks like then,” one X user mocked.
‘I love Tucker, but he didn’t reveal the fact that the average annual income of a Russian family of four is $15,000.
‘For Americans, $103 for a week’s worth of food is a bargain!
‘For Russians, it’s 35 percent of their annual salary!’
In the video of Tucker’s trip to the supermarket, he purchases several items, including a bag of flour, a bottle of wine, and cheese puffs.
‘It seems quite unauthorized to me!’ he says as she points to the Western brand chocolate bars near the boxes.
But when he finally realizes the price, he says, “I went from being amused to being legitimately angry.”
‘We were guessing how much this would cost… and it all came out to about $400.
‘And that’s when you start to realize that ideology doesn’t matter as much as you thought: “corruption.”
“If you take people’s standard of living and ruin it through filth and crime and inflation and they literally can’t buy the food they want, at that point maybe it matters less what you say and if you’re a good person or a bad person.
‘They are ruining the lives of people in their country and that is what our leaders have done to us.
‘Coming to a Russian grocery store “the heart of evil” and seeing what things cost and how people live will radicalize you against our leaders.
“That’s how I feel, radicalized. By the way, we’re not making any of this up. Absolutely.’
People on social media made fun of Tucker Carlson’s trip to the Russian grocery store.
It comes days after Tucker told a conference in Dubai that the Russian president wants “peace” and that Moscow is “much nicer and safer” than any American city.
As if speaking for Vladimir Putin, Carlson said the leader is willing to reach a deal on Ukraine after having an “off the record” talk with him in the Kremlin.
Tucker, 54, questioned Putin last week in a hit interview, in which Putin controlled the narrative and made a series of claims about his invasion of Ukraine.
He told the crowd: ‘What was shocking to me was the city of Moscow, where I had never been. The largest city in Europe, 13 million inhabitants.
‘It is much more beautiful than any city in my country. I had no idea. It is much cleaner, safer and more aesthetically pleasing. Its architecture, food and services are like any city in the United States. And this is not ideological.
It raised the question: ‘How did that happen?’
Carlson began comparing the New York City subway to parts of the Russian capital he saw, something he talked about at length in another video.
He said: “If you can’t use the subway, as many point out in relation to New York, because it’s too dangerous there, then you start to wonder what the purpose of leadership is.”
He also comes after Tucker. questioned Putin last week in a blockbuster interview – in which Putin controlled the narrative and made a series of claims about his invasion of ukraine.