Russian President Vladimir Putin recently engaged in an interview with conservative US journalist Tucker Carlson, marking his first conversation with a Western reporter since the commencement of Moscow’s extensive invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. The Kremlin specifically selected Carlson, a former prominent figure at Fox News who has transitioned into online commentary.
The choice of Carlson is strategic, given his previous characterization of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as a mere “border dispute.” Carlson has also advocated for the cessation of substantial aid to Kyiv from the United States, and he has made derogatory comparisons of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to derogatory figures such as a “rat” and a “pimp.”
Putin’s Strategic Interview with Tucker Carlson: A Platform for Propagating Agenda (Credits: Variety)
During their extensive two-hour discussion, which took place within a lavishly adorned Kremlin audience hall, Carlson notably refrained from challenging Putin in the same confrontational manner he often employed with guests of opposing political persuasions during his tenure at Fox News, which ended last year.
Putin’s intentions in selecting Carlson as his interviewer are transparent. He aimed to leverage Carlson’s platform to encourage Republicans to shift their support away from Ukraine and instead focus on domestic issues. Putin highlighted various challenges facing the United States, including border security, migration, and the national debt, suggesting that involvement in Ukraine is a distraction from addressing these pressing internal matters.
When Carlson proposed the idea of Putin directly negotiating with US President Joe Biden to resolve the conflict, Putin rejected the notion but insisted that the solution to ending the fighting in Ukraine is “very simple.” He asserted that halting the supply of weapons would swiftly lead to the cessation of hostilities, paving the way for potential negotiations.
Throughout the interview, Carlson refrained from challenging Putin’s assertions, even when they bordered on the fantastical and lacked empirical grounding. For instance, Putin expressed his belief that elected leaders do not wield genuine power in the United States, a claim that Carlson accepted without substantive inquiry or rebuttal.
Putin’s assertion that the US government is not truly led by elected officials went unchallenged by Carlson, who seemed to acquiesce to Putin’s perspective without further scrutiny.
The interview between Putin and Carlson provided a platform for the Russian president to propagate his views and agenda, unimpeded by critical interrogation or skepticism from the interviewer.
