Tucker Carlson announces controversial interview with President Putin will be aired Thursday at 6pm EST on his website and on X

• Carlson said in a post on his Instagram account Wednesday that the already-recorded sit-in will be broadcast at 6 p.m. ET.
• The former Fox News host is a key ally of 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump and a vocal opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine.
• “I wouldn’t be surprised if they showed up with a deal with a Russian broadcaster,” Hillary Clinton joked on MSNBC on Wednesday.

The talk show host announced that Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be aired on X and his website on Thursday, but Hillary Clinton called him a “useful idiot” I called it.

Carlson said in a post on his Instagram account Wednesday that the already-recorded sit-in will be broadcast on his website and social media platforms at 6 p.m. ET.

The former Fox News host, who is a key ally of 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump and a vocal opponent of U.S. military aid to Ukraine, has been a vocal supporter of President Putin since the February 2022 invasion of Russia. visited Moscow for his first interview with a Western journalist.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he signed a deal with a Russian broadcaster, because he’s a useful idiot,” Hillary Clinton joked on MSNBC Wednesday in response to the news.

Karlsson’s access to President Vladimir Putin stands in sharp contrast to the detention of other foreign journalists in Russia. Two Americans are currently imprisoned in Russia: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovitch and Radio Free Europe’s Ars Kurmasheva.

His popular show on Fox will see the right-wing cable network pay $800 million to end a defamation lawsuit over false allegations that vote-counting company Dominion Voting Systems helped rig the 2020 presidential election. It ended in April, just days after paying a near-term settlement. Mr. Trump.

Since then, he has aired a show on X (formerly Twitter), but his interview with President Putin was his biggest score since leaving Fox.

Carlson’s surprising scoop comes as U.S. aid to Ukraine has dried up due to Republican opposition in Washington and the Ukrainian military is scrambling to secure ammunition.

U.S. Senate Democrats will make a new attempt Thursday to restore U.S. military funding to Ukraine after Republican chaos killed a first vote on a multibillion-dollar aid package.

But the policy’s future is uncertain in the Republican-controlled House.

Speaking with Alex Wagner on the Left Network, Clinton said it makes perfect sense why Putin would agree to the interview.

“He’s saying things that aren’t true. He’s parroting President Vladimir Putin’s series of lies about Ukraine, so I don’t understand why President Putin won’t let him be interviewed,” she said. Told.

Despite her opinion that Karlsson has a future in Russian media, she believes the country’s media looks down on him.

“If you actually read the translation of what’s being said in the Russian media, they’re making fun of him…He’s like a puppy,” Clinton said.

Carlson, 54, previously said the interview would be aired “unedited” on his website and on X without a paywall, making it his first interview with Putin since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Became an American.

“Two years into a war that is reshaping the entire world, most Americans remain in the dark,” a conservative commentator said of the Ukraine conflict. “They have no idea what’s going on in this region. But they should know that they’re paying much of the price for it in ways they don’t fully realize.”

Russian state media Sputnik aired footage on Monday showing Karlsson’s car leaving the Kremlin.

“Americans have a right to know everything they can about the war they are involved in,” Carlson added in a four-minute video filmed in Moscow.

He went on to call the world’s English-language media corrupt, claiming they are “lying to their readers and viewers” and claiming it is his “duty to inform” the public. did.

Carlson repeated unconfirmed claims that the Biden administration illegally spied on Putin three years ago to prevent him from interviewing him. He then claimed that the federal government had “done it again.”

“But this time I came to Moscow anyway,” he said, adding that he paid for the trip himself and “did not accept money from any government or organization.”

“We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love America and want America to remain prosperous and free.” argued Carlson.

The commentator also said Elon Musk “promised not to suppress or interfere with this interview.”

“By contrast, Western governments will no doubt do their best to censor this video and other less principled platforms, because that’s what they’re doing.” Carlson added.

The video statement was released after days of speculation about whether it would include Carlson’s visit to Moscow and an interview with the tyrant.

President Putin has not met with an American journalist since June 2021, when he spoke with NBC’s Keir Simmons.

Veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour responded to Karlsson’s video message by pointing out that Western journalists were actually attempting to interview President Putin.

she wrote: “Does Tucker really think that we journalists haven’t tried to interview President Putin every day since he invaded Ukraine in earnest?” That’s ridiculous. As always, we will continue to seek interviews. ”

Russian state media fueled the rumors on Monday by posting a video it claimed showed Karlsson leaving the Russian presidential palace. However, the media still does not confirm that the interview took place.

The former Fox News star also kept his card close to his chest on Monday after Russian media ran photos of him in several locations around Moscow, including a box seat at the Bolshoi Theater and a meal at a hotel.

“It’s very beautiful,” Karlsson said of Moscow in an interview with Izvestia newspaper. “I just wanted to see it, because I’ve read a lot about it, but I’ve never seen it before.”

Asked if he was in Moscow to interview President Putin, Carlson replied with a smile: “I understand.”

The Kremlin also declined to confirm whether Putin would sit down with the American podcaster.

Karlsson reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted at a performance of Spartacus at the Bolshoi Theater.

In 2021, Carlson claimed that the National Security Agency began “spying” on him after he said he was trying to interview President Putin.

Mr. Carlson said his communications were intercepted by the NSA and that his identity, which should be kept secret by law, was “revealed” by senior intelligence officials.

He claimed that the contents of his emails and text messages were then disseminated to discredit him.