Tucker Carlson to air Putin interview tonight
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Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin will air on Thursday night, the Right-wing US talk show host has announced.
In a post on his Instagram account on Wednesday, Carlson said the sit-down interview, which has already been recorded, would be broadcast at 6pm Eastern time (11pm GMT).
The former Fox News host, a key ally of Donald Trump and a vocal opponent of US military aid for Ukraine, travelled to Moscow for Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Carlson’s access to Putin is a huge contrast with restraints on other foreign journalists in Russia, where two US citizens – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva – are currently imprisoned.
The media provocateur has spent years depicting America as a declining nation under assault by Democrats, Black Lives Matter advocates, “woke” protesters and communism.
Since his hit show on Fox ended in April, he has broadcast shows on X, formerly Twitter. His interview with Putin represents his biggest score since his departure from Fox.
Carlson’s surprise scoop also comes as US aid to Ukraine has dried up because of Republican opposition in Washington, leaving Ukrainian forces scrambling for ammunition.
When is Carlson’s interview with Putin?
The interview will air on Thursday 8 February at 6pm EST (11pm GMT), the former Fox News host has announced.
On a post to his Instagram account on Wednesday, Carlson said the sit-down interview had already been recorded and would be available on his personal website the following evening.
How to watch Tucker Carlson’s full interview
The full interview with the Russian president is accessible via TuckerCarlson.com and will later be broadcast on X.
Interview sparks criticism
On Wednesday, the White House said Putin should not be given an uncritical outlet to justify his war in Ukraine.
“I don’t think we need another interview with Vladimir Putin to understand his brutality,” said John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman.
Carlson’s interview also comes against the backdrop of the Kremlin’s two-decade dismantling of the free press in the country.
The Kremlin, however, has contradicted Carlson’s claim that he was the only Western journalist who had “bothered” to request access to Putin since the invasion of Ukraine.
“We receive many requests for interviews with the president,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, told reporters when asked whether Carlson was the only person who had asked for a sit-down interview with Putin.
Mr Peskov added that Carlson’s more pro-Russian position contrasted with what he called “the traditional Anglo-Saxon media”.
