5 things to know about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin used an interview with critic Tucker Carlson this week to spread propaganda about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, criticize the United States, and justify a crackdown on independent media coverage of the Kremlin.

The interview was a headline-grabbing moment for Carlson, a former cable news host who launched a new show on Platform X, formerly known as Twitter, after leaving Fox News last year.

Here are five things to know about Carlson and Putin’s interview.

President Putin had the opportunity to express his opinion without filters

For much of the conversation, which lasted more than two hours, Mr. Karlsson gave Mr. Putin a platform to reflect on the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations, while also reminding commentators and the audience of Russia’s right to seize territory from Ukraine, which Mr. Putin claims. I gave a lecture on

At one point, Karlsson praised Putin’s “encyclopedic knowledge” of the region and offered minimal pushback against Putin’s claims about the ongoing bloody war.

Putin told Carlson: “There are good reasons to declare that Ukraine is an artificial state shaped by Stalin’s will.”

After the interview was published, critics around the world immediately pointed out various false and misleading statements that Putin made to the host, which went largely unchecked.

“None of the actual facts of his full-scale invasion were presented to him.” [Putin]These include allegations of war crimes in Bucha, Irpin and beyond,” the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford pointed out.

In a short introduction before the interview, Carlson told viewers that the Russian president “appeared to us to be sincere, whether you agree with him or not.”

“President Vladimir Putin believes that Russia has historical claims to parts of western Ukraine,” Carlson said. “So our view, from that perspective, is to see this as an honest expression of his thoughts.”

President Putin tried to express confidence in Ukraine

In his meeting with Karlsson, as he so often does in public, Putin portrayed himself as a confident and steadfast world leader engaged in a just war in self-defense.

“It is very easy to protect yourself, your family and your homeland,” Putin said.

Karlsson offered no resistance to Putin’s false claims about self-defense in the region.

President Putin indicated that he was open to negotiations with the United States over the war in Ukraine, stating that he had “never refused negotiations.”

“It’s very simple,” Putin continued. “Again, we are in contact through various agencies. I will tell you what we are saying on this issue and what we are communicating to the U.S. leadership. . If you really want to stop fighting, you should stop supplying weapons.”

Russian leader promotes anti-American propaganda

President Putin has repeatedly criticized the United States and its leaders over promises of financial aid to Ukraine and other international concerns.

The Russian president also floated the idea that U.S. intelligence agencies are undermining the Biden administration, without providing concrete evidence.

Mr. Carlson posed a question to Mr. Putin, telling him: “You explained twice that the president of the United States makes a decision and then the head of the government is vulnerable.” “So what you’re saying makes it sound like you’re describing a system that’s not run by elected people.”

The Russian president also accused parliamentary leaders of continuing to finance the war in Ukraine, calling it a “provocation and a cheap provocation.”

“This is clear. Does the United States need this? For what? Thousands of miles from your country’s territory. Isn’t there something better? We have a problem at the border. Of immigration. The problem, the national debt problem,” he said.

President Putin’s characterization of the U.S. attitude toward Ukraine echoes the espouse of Carlson and other leading figures on the U.S. right that the U.S. should stop or reduce remittances to Ukraine and instead focus on domestic issues. It reflected the feelings I had.

Carlson called for the Wall Street Journal reporter’s release at the end of the interview.

One of the most notable moments of the sit-in came near the end of the conversation, when Carlson called on President Putin to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch.

The United States said Mr. Gershkovic was being unlawfully detained amid rising tensions with Russia.

“So, I just want to ask you directly, without going into the details of the incident or your version of what happened, and if as a sign of your decency, you would release him to us.” “We will bring him back to the United States,” Carlson asked Putin.

“We have done so many good acts of common sense that I think we have run out of them,” Putin said, before claiming that Gershkovych was guilty of espionage and working as a spy. I responded.

Carlson somewhat disputed that claim, saying, “He’s a 32-year-old newspaper reporter.”

“I do not exclude the possibility that the person you mentioned, Mr. Gershkovych, will return to his homeland,” Putin said.

Russian media covered the interview extensively.

A key part of Putin’s never-ending propaganda campaign is a constant stream of glowing reports in state media about the Kremlin and high-profile events in which Putin participates, such as the Karlsson interview.

Russian news agency TASS featured Putin’s interview with Karlsson prominently on its homepage on Thursday night, boasting that it had attracted an online audience.

Another article published by Russian propaganda outlet RT said that Russian Presidential Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that members of the U.S. media were “jealous” that Putin had agreed to an interview with Karlsson. I was told that he said that.

“There’s a certain division in the media along political lines and a deep corporate division. There’s quite a lot of conflict over which side of the two parties you support. So there’s a kind of professional jealousy. ,” Peskov said. “However, in due course there will be a detailed analysis of this interview…There is no doubt that there will be a lot of interest.”

In the United States, media observers argued that President Vladimir Putin used Carlson to his advantage in an effort to win an information war and influence U.S. foreign policy.

“What you see in the first 45 minutes of this show is that this is President Putin’s platform,” Clarissa Ward, a longtime CNN diplomatic correspondent, said during Thursday’s broadcast.

NBC’s Keir Simmons added Friday that Putin was “allowed to focus on his favorite topics” during his conversation with Carlson, but that the Russian president’s “purpose of this interview was “This may include influencing the conversation,” he said, adding that “there were almost no objections.” ” about his administration and the war he is waging against Ukraine.