Tucker Carlson sparks backlash after asking for US troops to liberate Canada

Mr Carlson likened Justin Trudeau to a dictator and complained about US military spending in Ukraine

After successfully bullying M&M’s to sideline its mascots, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has now set his sights on the Great White North by suggesting the US should invade Canada.

The Tucker Carlson Today likened Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to a dictator on his show this week, citing the anti-vaccine 2022 trucker protests that disrupted the nation’s capital for several weeks.

Mr Carlson suggested that the US should send the military to invade and "liberate" Canada.

"I’m completely in favour of a Bay of Pigs operation to liberate that country," he said, despite saying the US has never been “less ready for war” in August.

He did not note that the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was a failure.

"Why should we stand back and let our biggest trading partner, the country with which we share the longest border, and — actually, I’ll just say, a great country, I love Canada, I’ve always loved Canada because of its natural beauty — why should we let it become Cuba?" he asked.

He then asked "why don’t we liberate it" before complaining about military spending in Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

"We’re spending all this money to liberate Ukraine from the Russians, why are we not sending an armed force north to liberate Canada from Trudeau? And I mean it." he said.

The Fox News host’s comments were met with mockery and scorn on social media.

“The #BayOfPigs was a military failure. Don’t let effete frozen food empire heirs dictate foreign policy,” Twitter user Lisa McCormick wrote.

Philip Bump, a columnist at the Washington Post, suggested Carlson read up on the outcome of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

“The right-wing philosopher-king should google how that turned out,” he wrote on Twitter.

Comedy writer Danny Gallagher was more direct in his criticism, calling the suggestion “stupid.”

Carlson has previously stated he was "rooting for Russia" in its invasion of Ukraine, and it has been reported that his broadcasts are used in Russian state television as propaganda. He has also said in the past that Ukraine was waging a "war against Christianity" by defending itself from Russia.

The conservative talking head then walked back his comments, saying he was "just talking myself into a frenzy here."

Carlson’s love for Canada appears to be a new development; in the past he has criticised the nation as a "sick society" that "hates itself."