BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith joined Fox News’ Tucker Carlson to further defend why his site published the unverified Russian dossier about Donald Trump, leading the “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host to say, “You just don’t like Trump.”
Carlson started the interview by asking if it would be OK for him to, hypothetically, release unverified details of a hypothetical sex crime committed by Smith, saying, “Of course I would never publish that because it would be unfair. How is this different?”
Smith points out that the dossier was already circulating around the media elite and government officials and felt CNN reporting that the document existed led him to want to show the public “the thing that is being referred to.” Smith went on to compare what BuzzFeed did to Matt Drudge’s decision to break the Monica Lewinsky scandal back in the 1990s.
“Here is what bothers me about your explanation. I think you make some smart points,” Carlson said. “I’m for openness. I’m for transparency. But by setting yourself up as a champion of press freedom, you’re being slightly disingenuous because there is a political component here.”
Carlson then refereed to the phrasing of BuzzFeed’s editorial standards, which is online and publically available, as a “statement of activism.”
Carlson said that BuzzFeed News has a political agenda “masquerading as journalism,” and accused Smith of “hiding” behind journalism standards when they’re actual political imperatives.
Carlson and Smith went on to argue about a variety of topics, including stories mocking white people that have appeared on BuzzFeed and whether or not Brooklyn is responsible for the site’s attempt at comedy.
Check out the video above.