American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson has been mocked after clips from a car-crash interview with Jacob Rees-Mogg went viral. The controversial former Fox News host has faced ridicule online after making a series of bombshell comments about Britain’s economy and the Second World War while speaking to the ex-Tory minister.

In one clip from the interview, Mr Carlson claimed Russia has a “much larger economy” than Britain as he questioned why Moscow would want to go to war with London. Mr Rees-Mogg quickly interjected, saying: “No, it hasn’t got a larger economy than Britain. It’s got a smaller economy than Britain. It’s got a larger military.” In response, Mr Carlson claimed Russia has a “much larger economy, much more wealth and resources and much larger manufacturing sector”.

Mr Rees-Mogg went on to say Britain has a greater GDP than Russia. Russia has a GDP of $2.66 trillion (£2.01 trillion), significantly less than Britain’s $4.26 trillion (£3.22 trillion), according to official figures from the International Monetary Fund.

Mr Carlson argued GDP is “not the only measure of an economy”, before Mr Rees-Mogg hailed Russia an “economic failure”. Responding to the exchange, Daniel Hannan, Lord Hannan of Kingsclere, wrote on X: “Mogg 1, Tucker 0.”

The Tory peer, who is Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, added: “Russia’s economy was smaller than Spain’s before the war. Now it is probably smaller than Portugal’s. God knows Britain has her problems, but they are nothing compared to what happens in Putin’s bellicose kleptocracy.”

Brent Scher, editor-in-chief of US outlet The Daily Wire, also reacted to the viral clip. He wrote on X: “This is absolutely priceless. Tucker [Carlson] just states as fact that Russia has a much larger economy than the UK, is completely wrong and gets schooled.”

The exchange came as Mr Rees-Mogg appeared on The Tucker Carlson Show podcast. The episode featuring the prominent Brexiteer is titled: “Tucker Confronts Britain’s Most Pro-War Advocate.”

At the start of the show, Mr Carlson thanked Mr Rees-Mogg for having him in his “really pretty” home. The American political commentator added: “I’m sad to think of it being destroyed in the war you described.” Mr Carlson then asked: “What is this war and why do you have to fight it?”

Mr Rees-Mogg clarified he has in fact stressed Britain needs to be “prepared” for war amid rising tensions, explaining preparedness can stop a conflict from breaking out. Later in the podcast, the politician said: “Nobody [in Britain] wants to go to war with Russia.”

Mr Carlson also questioned Mr Rees-Mogg about why Britain fought in the Second World War, suggesting it was a mistake. He claimed Britain “destroyed their empire and their country fighting this war that they still pretend was a good idea, but it wasn’t”.

When Mr Rees-Mogg said entering the six-year conflict was “fundamental” and a “classic good-versus-evil” scenario, Mr Carlson said: “Has the UK benefited from it?” Mr Rees-Mogg said Britain “did the right thing”, with Mr Carslon asking in response: “Is it a better country than it was?”

He later asked: “So, the UK is a better country now? It’s a healthier country now?” Mr Rees-Mogg said without Britain’s interdiction, “we’d all be speaking German”.

The host then said “who cares?”, before claiming: “There are a lot of people in Britain who can’t speak English. So, it would be nice to have like, at least a European language spoken in your country.” Republic Senator Ted Cruz was among those to slam the bombshell comments made by Mr Carlson.

He wrote on X: “Yes, Tucker, the UK is better off for winning WWII. America is better off for winning WWII. And the world would be much worse off if the Nazis had won WWII. This is not complicated.”

Mike Huckabee, US Ambassador to Israel, said: “When it seemed impossible for Toxic Tucker to descend deeper into the sewer here he goes opining that UK should have let Nazis take over. Forget that Hitler murdered 11 million people? I thought Tucker was against killing? He needs help. Serious help.”

Mr Carlson is a former faithful of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, having spectacularly fallen out with Donald Trump earlier this year over the Iran war.

In 2024, became the first person from Western media to interview Vladimir Putin since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has previously defended the Russian President.