Tucker Carlson has confirmed he is in Moscow to interview Vladimir Putin – because ‘Americans are not informed’ about the war in Ukraine, he said on Tuesday.
The former Fox News host announced on X that he would be publishing an interview with the Russian despot, following widespread speculation after he was pictured leaving the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday.
Carlson, 54, said the interview would air ‘unedited’ on his website, without a paywall, and on X, making him the first American to interview Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
‘Two years into a war that’s reshaping the entire world, most Americans are not informed,’ the podcaster said about the war in Ukraine. ‘They have no real idea what’s happening in this region. But they should know, they’re paying for much of it in ways they might not fully perceive.’
It’s not clear whether the interview has already happened, or when it will air.
Tucker Carlson has announced that he has interviewed Vladimir Putin because ‘Americans are not informed’ about the war in Ukraine
Carlson would be the first American to interview Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022
‘Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in,’ Carlson added in the four-minute clip taken in Moscow.
He went on to call the world’s English-language media corrupt, claiming they ‘lie to their readers and viewers.’
Carlson repeated the unconfirmed claim that the Biden administration started spying on him three years ago to stop him from interviewing Putin.
He then claimed the federal government ‘did the same thing once again.’
‘But this time, we came to Moscow anyway,’ he claimed, adding that he paid for the trip himself, and did not take money from any government or group.
‘We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States and want it to remain prosperous and free.’
Carlson also claimed Elon Musk had ‘promised not to suppress or block this interview.’
‘Western governments, by contrast, will certainly do their best to censor this video and other less principled platforms because that’s what they do,’ the podcaster added.
The video statement comes after days of speculation over Carlson’s trip to Moscow, and whether it would include an interview with the tyrant.
Putin has not saw down with an American journalist since June 2021, when he spoke with NBC’s Keir Simmons.
Russian state media fueled the rumors on Monday, posting a video they claimed showed Carlson leaving the Russian Presidential Administration. The outlet, however, would still not confirm the interview took place.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (center), 54, was spotted in the Russian capital at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre, according to media in Russia
A picture of Carlson appears to show him at a Spartacus performance at the Bolshoi Theatre
The former Fox News star kept his cards close to the chest on Monday, after Russian media showed pictures of him at several spots around Moscow, including at a box at the Bolshoi Theatre and eating at a hotel.
‘It is beautiful,’ Carlson said of Moscow in an interview aired by the Izvestia newspaper. ‘I just wanted to see it because, you know, I have read so much about it but I have never seen it before.’
When asked if he was in Moscow to interview Putin, Carlson said: ‘We’ll see’ and smiled.
The Kremlin has also refused to confirm it Putin would be sitting down with the American podcaster.
Carlson reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre.
Back in 2021, Carlson claimed the National Security Agency began ‘spying’ on him after he said he was trying to interview Putin.
Carlson said that his communications were intercepted by the NSA, and that his identity – which should by law have been kept a secret – was ‘unmasked’ by senior intelligence officials.
Carlson claimed that the content of his emails and texts was then disseminated, in a bid to discredit him.
The former news anchor, who has defended Putin in the past, has opposed America’s support for Ukraine and suggested that the West is to blame for the invasion.
His show Tucker Carlson Tonight was once the most viewed cable news show in the US before it was taken off-air in April 2023.
