The former Fox News anchor said he is interviewing the Russian president because « we’re in journalism, our duty is to inform people. »
Tucker Carlson has been criticized online for justifying his planned interview with Vladimir Putin as being in the interests of media freedom while the Russian president’s government has aggressively enforced a ban on protests, clamped down on the press and jailed journalists.
« The host’s anti-Ukraine talking points have even been celebrated by and circulated in Russian state media, » Media Matters said.
After speculation following the former Fox News anchor’s appearances in the Russian capital, Carlson posted a video on X in which he confirmed he would speak with the Russian leader and gave as one of his reasons: « We’re in journalism, our duty is to inform people. »
Carlson said that two years into the war in Ukraine started by Putin, « most Americans are not informed, » but that « they should know because they are paying for in ways they might not yet fully perceive.
