A spokesperson for the Russian government clarified that it has rejected requests to interview Vladimir Putin from reputable media outlets
The Kremlin’s first public response to Tucker Carlson’s announcement that he’s landed an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin was to fact-check the former Fox News host.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Carlson had indeed interviewed Putin, but took issue with Carlson’s claim that “not a single Western journalist has bothered” to interview Russia’s president throughout the nation’s war with Ukraine, which has raged for more than two years.
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Putin’s refusal to sit down with most Western media outlets likely has less to do with accusations of bias so much as an unwillingness to be subjected to legitimate scrutiny of his government. Russia has been accused of committing atrocities and war crimes in its offensive against Ukraine, including the unlawful executions of civilians. Putin’s government is also infamous for its frequent detainment of political rivals and critics, as well as the cloud of mysterious deaths and poisonings of those in his orbit.
Whether Carlson will question Putin on any of these matters remains to be seen. The former Fox News host’s history of granting softball interviews to controversial influencers, political figures, and authoritarian leaders, indicates this is unlikely. Given everything we know about Putin’s propaganda machine, it’s clear that in Carlson, the Russian government sees a safe opportunity to broadcast its carefully crafted messaging to American viewers.
I think it’s very likely all the media attention will translate to a whole lot of views. People will think it’s a rare chance to “hear what Putin has to say about the situation”, as if his propaganda hasn’t been on Russian television 24/7 for years now.
Yeah, but in order to do that, they have to pay to join Tucker’s streaming platform. And that is the thing which makes me think not too many people will watch it.
Not many, but way more than otherwise would have. And the rest will read about it somewhere else, spreading Putin’s propaganda independently of the stupidity of the platform.
Or maybe it’ll just expose Tucker as the complete hack that he is once and for all. But I kind of doubt those who haven’t seen it already can ever be convinced.