American presenter Tucker Carlson, close to Donald Trump, struck a major blow on Tuesday by announcing that he would soon interview Vladimir Putin.
“We are here to interview the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin,” the conservative star said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Why I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin.
pic.twitter.com/hqvXUZqvHX
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 6, 2024
Tucker Carlson is a star presenter in the United States, recently fired from the Fox News channel, very popular among conservatives.
He has since hosted a show, rebroadcast on X.
Accused of relaying conspiracy and racist theories
At the helm of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” between 2016 and 2023, the fifty-year-old had become one of the most influential voices in conservative America, accused of popularizing conspiracy and racist theories.
The journalist is also known to be very close to Donald Trump, former Republican president who is well on his way to opposing Joe Biden in the American presidential election in November.
The presenter did not indicate precisely when the interview with Vladimir Putin would take place, nor when it would be broadcast.
“We will do that soon,” he simply said.
Rumors were rife about the possibility that this interview would take place, with several Telegram channels having reported in recent days the presence of Tucker Carlson in the Russian capital, Moscow.
" Our homework "
In his four-minute video, the presenter detailed all the reasons that led him to request this interview.
“Here’s why we do it,” he said.
“First, because it’s our job, we do journalism, our duty is to inform people.”
“Most Americans are uninformed, they have no idea what is happening in the region, here in Russia or 600 miles away in Ukraine.
Yet they should know it, because they pay a large part of it,” he judged.
In recent months, Tucker Carlson has more than once been critical of American support for Ukraine in the face of the Russian offensive.
This support is also the subject of heated debates in the American Congress where Republicans close to Donald Trump refuse to release the new funds to kyiv, insistently demanded by President Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Taking up a speech hostile to the mainstream media, hated by many on the right, he asserted that the populations of English-speaking countries were poorly informed about the war in Ukraine and its consequences.
“They think nothing has really changed.
And they think that because no one has told them the truth.
Their media is corrupt,” he said.
He notably criticized the interviews conducted by the American media with President Zelensky, calling them “sycophantic”.
He specified that he himself had requested an interview with Volodymyr Zelensky.
Tucker Carlson also discussed some of the arrangements surrounding the interview, claiming among other things to have paid for his trip himself.
“There are obviously risks in conducting an interview like this.
So we thought about it carefully for several months,” he said.
“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin.
We are here because we love America.
We want them to remain prosperous and free,” he concluded.