‘Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it,’ Mr. Carlson said on Feb. 6.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Feb. 6 confirmed he’s in Russia to interview President Vladimir Putin.
“We’ll be doing that soon,” Mr. Carlson said in a video posted to the X social media website.
Rumors had swirled for days after reports Mr. Carlson was spotted in Moscow.
“There are risks to conducting an interview like this, obviously. So we thought about it carefully over many months,” Mr. Carlson said.
He said the motivation to interview Mr. Putin stemmed from gaining insight into his mindset. If the interview happens, it would be the first time Mr. Putin is interviewed since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
“Our duty is to inform people. Two years into a war that’s reshaping the entire world, most Americans are not informed,” Mr. Carlson said.
He noted that many media outlets have interviewed Ukrainian figures, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but few have conducted interviews with Russians.
“Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine, or what his goals are now,” Mr. Carlson said. “They’ve never heard his voice. That’s wrong. Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it.”
Some of Mr. Carlson’s competitors, including CNN host Erin Burnett, have criticized Mr. Carlson for interviewing Mr. Putin.
“Putin is trying to court the MAGA GOP in the United States. In fact, one of the leaders of the MAGA GOP is in Moscow tonight,“ Ms. Burnett said on her show this week. She added later that Mr. Carlson was ”possibly there in Moscow to interview Putin, definitely there as a Putin-supporting celebrity.”
Defending the Interview
Mr. Carlson said in his video announcement: “We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States.”
He noted that the video of the interview will be available for free and said Elon Musk, the owner of X, has already promised not to censor the interview in any way once it’s posted to X.
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