Fox News host Tucker Carlson went off on the US intelligence community during an appearance on former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard's podcast. He also called Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer an "asshole" while discussing members of congress who are controlled by the intelligence community.

Carlson recounted an incident where he wanted to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin before the Ukraine war, and reached out through a well-connected friend to do so. Carlson kept Fox and his producers in the dark, yet was given a 'tap on the shoulder' by one of his 'closest friends" who knew a high-up official at the National Security Agency.

After flying to Washington DC to meet in person, it was conveyed that the high-level NSA employee, who is a 'secret fan' of his show, knew that Carlson was "trying to get a Putin interview and go to Russia," adding "they have your emails and your texts, and they're going to leak them to the media to discredit you as a Putin lover."

Carlson then called a friend who is a US Senator, who told him that the US intelligence community accused him of being a Russian agent.

"Michael McFaul, who I would say is the leader of the neocons in the House... I got into an argument with him once last year on the phone. He told somebody that I was a Russian agent or something, and I was outraged," Tucker said, referring to the former US Ambassador to Russia under President Obama.