Tucker Carlson announces his controversial interview with Putin will air Thursday at 6pm EST on his own website and X – as Hillary Clinton brands fired Fox News host a ‘useful idiot’
Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be broadcast Thursday on X and his own website, the talk show host announced, while Hillary Clinton called him a “useful idiot” for it.
In a post to his Instagram account Wednesday, Carlson said the sit-down, which has already been recorded, will air on his website and social media platform at 6 p.m. Eastern.
The former Fox News host, a key ally of 2024 election candidate Donald Trump and an outspoken opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, traveled to Moscow for Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since the February 2022 Russian invasion.
Hilary Clinton joked on MSNBC on Wednesday that she “wouldn’t be surprised if he comes forward with a contract with a Russian outlet because he’s a useful idiot” in response to the news.
Carlson’s access to Putin stands in stark contrast to restrictions on other foreign journalists in Russia, where two American citizens — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva — are currently imprisoned.
(COMBO) This combination of file photos taken on February 6, 2024 shows the Russian President in Moscow and American conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson in West Palm Beach, Florida
His hit show on Fox came to an end in April, days after the right-wing cable network paid a nearly $800 million settlement to end a defamation lawsuit over false allegations that vote-counting company Dominion Voting Systems had helped win the presidential election. 2020 to steal. Trump.
He has since aired shows on X, formerly Twitter, but his interview with Putin represents his biggest score since leaving Fox.
Carlson’s surprising scoop also comes as U.S. aid to Ukraine has dried up due to Republican opposition in Washington, leaving Ukrainian forces scrambling for ammunition.
U.S. Senate Democrats will make a new attempt Thursday to restore U.S. military financing to Ukraine after an initial vote on a multibillion-dollar aid package collapsed amid Republican chaos.
But the future of the package is unclear in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Clinton said in a conversation with Alex Wagner of the left-wing network that it made perfect sense why Putin would do the interview.
‘He says things that aren’t true. “He repeats Vladimir Putin’s lies about Ukraine, so I don’t see why Putin wouldn’t give him an interview,” she said.
Despite her belief that Carlson has a future at a Russian outlet, she believes he is looked down upon by the country’s media.
In a post to his Instagram account on Wednesday, Carlson said the sit-down, which has already been recorded, will air on his website and social media platform at 6 p.m. Eastern.
“If you actually read the translations of what’s being said on the Russian media, they’re making fun of him… he’s like a puppy dog,” Clinton said.
Carlson, 54, previously said the interview would be broadcast “unedited” on his website, without a paywall, and on X, making him the first American to interview Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“Two years after a war that is reshaping the entire world, most Americans are unaware,” the conservative commentator said of the conflict in Ukraine. ‘They have no real idea what’s happening in this region. But they need to know that they are paying for a lot of it in ways they may not fully understand.”
Russian state media outlet Sputnik broadcast footage Monday showing Carlson’s car leaving the Kremlin.
“Americans have a right to know everything they can about any war they are involved in,” Carlson added in the four-minute segment recorded in Moscow.
He then called the world’s English-language media corrupt, claiming that they “lie to their readers and viewers” and that “it is his duty to inform the public.”
Carlson repeated the unconfirmed claim that the Biden administration illegally spied on him three years ago to prevent him from interviewing Putin. He then claimed that the federal government was “doing the same thing again.”
“But this time we came to Moscow,” he said, adding that he paid for the trip himself, “and did not accept any money from any government or group.”
“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States and want it to remain prosperous and free,” Carlson asserted.
The commentator also stated that Elon Musk had “promised not to suppress or block this interview.”
“Western governments, on the other hand, will certainly do their best to censor this video and other less principled platforms because that is what they do,” Carlson added.
The video statement comes after days of speculation about Carlson’s trip to Moscow, and whether it would include an interview with the tyrant.
Putin has not met with an American journalist since June 2021, when he spoke with NBC’s Keir Simmons.
Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour responded to Carlson’s video message, noting that Western journalists have indeed made attempts to interview Putin.
She wrote: “Does Tucker really think that we journalists haven’t tried to interview President Putin every day since his massive invasion of Ukraine? It’s absurd; we will continue to ask for an interview, just as we have done for years.”
Russian state media fueled the rumors Monday by posting a video they claimed showed Carlson quitting the Russian presidential administration. However, the outlet still will not confirm that the interview took place.
The former Fox News star also kept his cards close to his chest on Monday after Russian media showed photos of him in various places in Moscow, including in a box at the Bolshoi Theater and while he was eating at a hotel.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (center), 54, was spotted in the Russian capital during a performance of Spartacus at the Bolshoi Theater, according to Russian media.
A photo of Carlson appears to show him performing Spartacus at the Bolshoi Theater
“It’s beautiful,” Carlson said of Moscow in an interview broadcast by the Izvestia newspaper. “I just wanted to see it because, you know, I’ve read so much about it, but I’ve never seen it before.”
When asked if he was in Moscow to interview Putin, Carlson said, “We’ll see,” and smiled.
The Kremlin has also refused to confirm that Putin would sit down with the American podcaster.
Carlson reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted attending a performance of Spartacus at the Bolshoi Theater.
In 2021, Carlson claimed that the National Security Agency began “spying” on him after he said he was trying to interview Putin.
Carlson said his communications were intercepted by the NSA, and his identity — which by law should have remained secret — was “exposed” by top intelligence officials.
He claimed that the contents of his emails and text messages were then circulated in an attempt to discredit him.