Tucker Carlson Interviews Man Claiming He Slept With Obama

Tucker Carlson interviewed Larry Sinclair, a man who repeated long-debunked claims that Barack Obama did crack cocaine and had sex with him in 1999. 

The Details: In a Wednesday episode of his show on X, formerly Twitter, the former Fox News (Right bias) star asked viewers to “assess” for themselves whether the claims, originally made by Sinclair in 2008, were accurate. Carlson accused the media of “trying to keep you from knowing the answers.”

For Context: In 2008, Sinclair was offered $100,000 if he could pass a polygraph test, but organizers said the test results “indicated deception.” Sinclair has been arrested on fraud-related charges several times, including under 13 different aliases in Colorado, and Politico (Lean Left bias) reported he had 97 other infractions through 1996 related to assault, drugs, and more. 

How the Media Covered It: Nearly all news and opinion coverage framed Sinclair’s claims as dubious, often calling him a “convicted con man” or a “fraudster.” Some on the left cited the interview as evidence of a purported “obsession” with Obama among right-wing commentators. 

Media Reactions: Some liberal and conservative opinion writers criticized the interview; a Guardian (Lean Left bias) columnist called it “embarrassing to watch,” and a U.K. Telegraph (Lean Right bias) columnist called it “a new low for conservatism.” Meanwhile, a Federalist (Right bias) columnist argued that while he found it “tawdry and ugly,” it was “laughable for journalists to complain about Tucker’s interview” because “the media” treated purportedly similar accusations as credible.