Tucker to Washington Post media reporter: 'I see you as a political hack'

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Tucker vs WaPo's Erik Wemple

Tucker confront's Washington Post columnist Erik Wemple for media bias in his coverage of conservatives and repeated attack on Fox News #Tucker

Tucker Carlson confronted Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple over his coverage of his employer, asking "Why don't you cover your own paper's shortcomings?"

"In case after case," Carlson charged, "you’ve failed to cover your own paper running fake or misleading things."

The "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host took issue with a December story in which the Post claimed that Russian hackers had infiltrated the U.S. power grid via a Vermont utility company. The paper later retracted that portion of the story.

"I wrote a very hard-hitting piece about that situation," said Wemple.

"You never bothered to talk to your own reporters, [who are] presumably in the same newsroom that you’re in," Carlson responded.

"Look, the story was very critical of the Washington Post and I would know," said Wemple, who went on to praise Post editor Martin Baron for "the freedom that I have" to criticize the paper.

"You didn’t interview the reporters who wrote the story and then you end with this: 'The missteps mar an otherwise spectacular run for the Post,'" Carlson read from Wemple's piece. "Now, when you write something that brown-nosy, do you feel guilt?"

Carlson also questioned Wemple over the Post's practice of carrying so-called "native advertisements" paid for by the Russian and Chinese government, among others.

"Well, that’s a good question," Wemple admitted. "I think I’ve got a lot to write about."

Later in the interview, Carlson accused Wemple of "single-mindedly [pursuing] your political agenda."

"I see you as a political hack acting out his political beliefs on paper with the cover of media criticism," Carlson said, "and everyone who reads you knows that.

"Look, the point is, you have the freedom and I think that’s great," Carlson said to conclude the interview. "You should just use it to do something useful like reporting on Russian propaganda in your own paper."