DRussian President Vladimir Putin gave an in-depth interview to an American journalist for the first time since the start of his war of aggression against Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson had spoken to Putin in Moscow. The right-wing talk show host, who has been in Moscow for days and praised the Russian capital as great, announced the interview on Tuesday evening. The American broadcaster CNN also reported on Carlson's interview plans.
Carlson represents a different position than Western media, with whom discussions would make no sense, said Peskov, justifying the initiative. Several Western media outlets had also requested an interview with Putin. From the Kremlin's perspective, Carlson, who is a supporter of former American President Donald Trump, has long listened to Russian positions. “He has an attitude that is different from the others. She is in no way pro-Russian, she is not pro-Ukrainian, she is most likely pro-American,” Peskov said. The 54-year-old Carlson, who has an audience of millions, is also known for spreading conspiracy theories.
“Not here because we love Putin”
Peskov contradicted Carlson, who claimed that other journalists did not want to interview Putin. “We receive many requests for an interview with the president,” Peskov said. Major Western television channels and newspapers have tried this. “These are all mass media, all of which represent an exclusively one-sided position.” There is neither point nor benefit in conversing with such media. Peskov said it was up to Carlson to inform the circumstances of the interview and the timing of publication.
The American journalist had declared that he would make the conversation available free of charge and in its entirety, unedited, on Platform X and on his website. Carlson said that all Americans should see for themselves beyond the “ugliest government propaganda” under President Joe Biden because this war is being paid for in large part by them.
“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin, we are here because we love the United States,” Carlson said. He said that the war was already fundamentally changing the global economic order created after the Second World War, which brought prosperity to the West. It's about historical upheavals about which Americans need to be informed. Carlson accused the American mass media of lying to viewers and readers by omitting them.
Carlson was fired from Fox News last year. The talk show host hosted a high-ratings evening show there for years. He used this to spread conspiracy theories and false reports and to agitate against minorities. Shortly afterwards he started his own show on X.