Vladimir Putin’s propagandists have predicted that Tucker Carlson’s interview with the Russian president will “blow up” the United States, with one commenting: “God willing, a civil war will break out!”
Carlson announced on Tuesday that he was in Moscow to speak with Putin, claiming that other Western journalists had not “bothered” to speak to the Russian leader.
Carlson, who has hosted a provocative chat show on
The Russian state media were cheerful about the ‘revelations’ they expected.
“If Tucker dares to broadcast this interview in the United States, it will first of all blow up their information blockade from within,” said political scientist Sergei Mikheev, according to an analysis of Russian media by The everyday beast.
Tucker Carlson has announced that he interviewed Vladimir Putin because “Americans are not aware” of the war in Ukraine
Political scientist Sergei Mikheev said Monday evening that Carlson’s interview with Putin “will blow up the information blockade in the United States.”
Mikheyev, the site said, predicted that Putin’s interview would be more interesting than anything said by American politicians.
He added that both the Democratic and Republican elites are “uninteresting and stupid,” and said Carlson’s interview would have some “interesting” consequences if it were revealed to an ignorant American public.
The host of the show, The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, added: “It’ll blow them to pieces!”
Micheev said hopefully, “God willing, a civil war will break out!”
Russian state media fixated on coverage of Carlson’s interview in his home country, showing montages of CNN and MSNBC discussing the trip.
They showed footage of Carlson at his hotel restaurant with his team and arriving at the airport. They shared photos of him in a theater and said his trip to Moscow had probably been a revelation.
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
Alexei Venediktov, former editor of radio station Ekho Moskvy, tweeted: “As I understand it, Tucker Carlson got what he wanted.”
A talk show host, Evgeny Popov, said Carlson “charged his smartphone through a USB port and connected to fast and free WiFi Internet.”
He added, “American citizens cannot even dream of such wonders of civilization.”
Carlson, meanwhile, boasted that he was the only journalist curious enough to want to hear Putin’s views.
Steve Rosenberg, the BBC’s veteran Moscow correspondent, replied to X: ‘Interesting to hear @TuckerCarlson claim that ‘no Western journalist has bothered to interview Putin since the invasion of Ukraine. We have submitted several requests to the Kremlin over the past 18 months. Always a ‘no’ for us.’
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour tweeted: “Does Tucker really think 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.”
Others pointed out that two American journalists – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva – are both in prison for reporting inside Russia.
And while Putin is known for avoiding interviews with Western media, interviews do happen from time to time.
Putin speaks with Megyn Kelly in June 2017
Putin is pictured in 2018 speaking to Fox News host Chris Wallace
Putin spoke to NBC’s Keir Simmons in 2021: his most recent interview with Western media
In 2017, Putin spoke to Megyn Kelly for NBC News, and again the following year; Chris Wallace won Fox News its first Emmy nomination for his Putin interview in 2018. In June 2021, Putin spoke with NBC’s Keir Simmons.
He has not given interviews with Western media since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Carlson has made no secret of his desire to interview Putin, whom he has regularly praised as a strong leader.
In July 2021, Carlson said he was trying to arrange an interview with Putin when he “was spied on by the NSA.”
The then-Fox News host said his communications were intercepted by the National Security Agency and his identity — which by law should have been kept secret — was “exposed” by top intelligence officials. Carlson claimed that the contents of his emails and text messages were then disseminated in an attempt to discredit him.
“Late this spring, I contacted some people who I thought might be able to help get an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Carlson told his viewers.
“I didn’t tell anyone I was doing this other than my executive producer, Justin Wells,” Carlson said.
“But the Biden administration found out anyway by reading my emails.”
The NSA took the highly unusual step of denying his accusation, but Carlson has maintained that his emails were intercepted.
On Tuesday night, Carlson promised that his interview with Putin would be revealing.
He said he did it because “Americans are not aware” of the war Ukraine.
“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.”
He did not say when the sit-down will air.
Carlson would be the first American to interview Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022
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.
“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.
Carlson reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted attending a performance of Spartacus at the Bolshoi Theater.