Tucker Carlson Tonight was America’s most-watched cable news program until it went off the air in April 2023 due to a defamation lawsuit.
The host has since posted his show on Twitter, where interviews with figures such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and controversial online influencer Andrew Tate have racked up millions of views. did.
Rumors of a Russian partnership first broke in the summer, when Russian state television ran an ad featuring a montage of Carlson repeatedly saying “Russia” and promising: here. “
Karlsson is popular with Russian state media. Russia 1 channel anchor Vladimir Solovyov urged Carlson to “come with me” after he left Fox News.
President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in September that he believed “the time will come” for Western media to interview the Russian president, adding: “I wonder if Karlsson will be among the people interviewed. I don’t know,” he added. , well, let’s wait and see. ”
Bill Kristol, who served as the US vice president’s chief of staff during the Reagan administration, commented on reports of a possible meeting and suggested that Carthlon be temporarily barred from re-entering the US.
Calls to prevent Carlson from re-entering the US
“Maybe we need to completely and completely shut down Mr. Tucker Carlson’s re-entry into the United States until our country’s representatives figure out what’s going on,” Kristol said.
Kristol also compared Carlson’s visit to Moscow to Jane Fonda’s visit to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Jane Fonda was photographed posing with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun as US troops battled communist forces in the country.
Bill Browder, a British investor and Vladimir Putin’s biggest critic, said: “Russia has waged a genocidal war to eliminate Ukrainians, and Putin is wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity.” “At the same time, Mr. Tucker Carlson, an influential American citizen, is in Moscow.” ?!? He’s either grossly stupid or consciously evil. There are no other excuses. ”
Some Republican reactions support Mr. Carlson’s visit to Moscow.
“Democrats and media propagandists are shuddering at the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing President Putin,” U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on social media.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former US President Donald Trump, said in January that Carlson was a “candidate” to be his father’s running mate in the 2024 US presidential election.
“I mean, I think they’re very friendly and agree on virtually all of these things. They certainly agree on stopping endless wars. So I would love to see that happen.” It’s certainly going to be a candidate,” Trump Jr. said in an interview with Newsmax.
According to Russian telegram channel Mash, Karlsson was photographed at the Bolshoi Theater after spending three days in Moscow.
He was previously photographed during a layover at Istanbul airport on his way to the Russian capital.
The Telegraph has contacted Tucker Carlson for comment.