Tucker Carlson’s appearance in Moscow fuels rumors of upcoming Putin interview

Ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson is in Moscow, fueling unconfirmed rumors that he has planned a sit-down interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Carlson recently told Russian journalists “we’ll see” when asked if he plans to interview Putin and was reportedly spotted leaving his hotel Monday.

The rumors around a potential interview, as well as the fact that Carlson is in Russia in and of itself, have roiled critics of the Kremlin.

“He is a traitor,” posted former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, calling out Carlson.

“Tucker Carlson is surely on the path to being labelled a propagandist for the Russian regime,” wrote European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt. “If he enables disinformation for Putin, the EU should explore a travel ban!”

“I wish people would stop referring to Tucker Carlson as a journalist,” wrote financier and outspoken Putin critic Bill Browder. “A journalist is someone who is objective. Tucker Carlson has an agenda and brazenly lies to support that agenda. His lies cost Fox News $787m. His work in Moscow for Putin will cost the world far more than that.”

However, others praised Carlson and blasted the criticism online as opposition to a free press.

Conservative actor James Woods weighed in on X, writing that “in the midst of these troubled times I certainly want to hear what Putin has to say.”

“It’s impossible to get any insight from the lapdogs masquerading as ‘news’ these days,” he added. “Thank God we still have real journalists like Tucker Carlson, interested in the actual news of the day.”

The controversy also caught the attention of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who argued that “Tucker Carlson has every right to interview Putin.”

“The legacy media is in shambles because we’ve caught onto their lies and propaganda,” RFK Jr. wrote on Sunday. “Tucker Carlson has every right to interview Putin. We need more transparency instead of less. It used to be understood journalists would interview world leaders, even those with whom we were at war.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) offered a similar defense, writing on X that Democrats “feel entitled to the position of gatekeeper and believe they are the ones who tell you what to think and believe.”

“They HATE when someone like Tucker goes ‘off script’,” Greene continued. “We have a free press in this country and its people like Tucker Carlson who we depend on to speak the truth!”

For its part, the Kremlin has not confirmed any interview with Carlson.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said “many foreign journalists come to Russia every day, many continue to work here, and we welcome this,” but added that the Kremlin has “nothing to announce in terms of the president’s interviews to foreign media.”

However, a video released online claimed to show Carlson’s entourage leaving the Russian Presidential Administration building this evening.

In September, Carlson alleged that the U.S. government prevented him from interviewing Putin.

“You’re not allowed to hear Putin’s voice, ‘coz why?” he told the magazine Die Weltwoche.

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*First Published: Feb 5, 2024, 11:57 am CST

Katherine Huggins

Katherine Huggins is a New York-based journalist and freelance contributor to the Daily Dot’s tech and politics section. She helps cover the United Nations for the Japanese newspaper Mainichi and previously reported on the 2022 midterm elections for Marketwatch. Her work has appeared in USA Today, Forbes, OpenSecrets and more.