Tucker Carlson has spent the past few days in Moscow, and there is speculation he has interviewed or soon will interview Russian President Vladimir Putin, a global pariah since his country invaded Ukraine two years ago.
But when asked about speaking to Putin on Monday morning, the former Fox News host was coy about what he is doing in the Russian capital.
Reuters reported Carlson was questioned about his intentions in the country and city but declined to say.
“It is beautiful,” he told Russia’s Izvestia newspaper when asked for his thoughts on Moscow. “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 about speculation he will interview Putin, Carlson smiled and said, “We’ll see.”
A video of the question and answer went viral on the social media platform X on Monday morning.
🔴 Tucker Carlson – dans un hôtel à Moscou :
“J’ai lu beaucoup de choses sur Moscou. Je voulais parler aux gens et voir comment les choses se passaient. Et ils se débrouillent bien ici. Les médias américains sont fous. Vraiment fous. Très fous.” pic.twitter.com/6M5o7zLY3h
— Péonia (@CalliFanciulla) February 5, 2024
Reuters reported Kremlin officials were similarly evasive when asked about Russia’s leader sitting down with Carlson.
Would you want to see this interview?
“Many foreign journalists come to Russia every day, many continue to work here, and we welcome this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov added, “We have nothing to announce in terms of the president’s interviews to foreign media.”
Local media reporters have tracked Carlson’s movements around Moscow.
JUST IN – Tucker Carlson reportedly spotted in Moscow, Russia – is ‘Putin interview’ happening? pic.twitter.com/zygd2oEOQk
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) February 3, 2024
His presence in Russia has sparked a frenzy of attention and has resulted in claims that he is a “traitor” or is guilty of “treason.”
He is a traitor. https://t.co/F4yK56vSun
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) February 4, 2024
Perhaps we need a total and complete shutdown of Tucker Carlson re-entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 4, 2024
It’s unbelievable, this is treason from Tucker. https://t.co/kk9F0fGilb
— Kerry Winslow (@grapelive) February 4, 2024
Tucker Carlson is a traitor to the United States of America and should be treated as such
— Andrew Mercado (@RealAndyMerc) February 4, 2024
Before Carlson was fired from Fox News in April without any explanation to the public, he frequently demanded accountability and transparency from the U.S. government and the corporate media about the West’s goals for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Before the invasion, as Russian forces were building up on Ukraine’s borders, Carlson attacked Washington elected officials and the Biden administration for what he said were policies that were meant to provoke Putin — who is and has remained opposed to Ukraine joining NATO.
“So at this point, NATO exists primarily to torment Vladimir Putin who, whatever his many faults, has no intention of invading Western Europe,” he said in December 2021, the U.K. outlet The Independent reported.
Carlson concluded, “Vladimir Putin does not want Belgium. He just wants to keep his western borders secure.”
The left has branded the former Fox News host as a “Putin puppet” and a propagandist for the Kremlin.
