Tucker Carlson has been slammed for his controversial interview with Vladimir Putin, after he defended the Russian president by saying that “leadership requires killing people”.
The interview came just a week before the death of Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader and staunch Putin critic.
In the groundbreaking conversation, Carlson let Putin speak at length about pet topics like Russian and European history – which the ex-KGB man says he didn’t expect.
Putin has said he “was not prepared” for how “soft” Carlson would be when the Russian president was interviewed by the former Fox News presenter last week.
Tucker Carlson has been criticised for claiming that 'leadership requires killing people' after his controversial interview with Putin
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After the sit-down in Moscow, the American journalist was interviewed at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Monday by Egyptian journalist Emad El Din Adeeb, who grilled him for the questions he failed to ask Putin.
Adeeb said: “You should challenge in the roles of an interview, and you're a master in your business.
“It's not for me to give you a lecture about that, but you should challenge some ideas.
“For instance, you didn't talk about freedom of speech in Russia, you did not talk about Alexei Navalny, about assassinations, about restrictions on opposition in the coming elections.”
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Carlson let Putin speak at length about pet topics like Russian and European history – which the ex-KGB man says he didn’t expect
TUCKER CARLSON NETWORK ON XCarlson replied: “I didn't talk about the things that every other American media outlet talks about.
“Because those are covered and because I have spent my life talking to people who run countries in various countries and have concluded the following: that every leader kills people, including my leader.
“Every leader kills people, some kill more than others. Leadership requires killing people, sorry, that's why I wouldn't want to be a leader.”
He said that there are restrictions to the press all around the world, even the American media. He added: “I just want to know what he thinks, that was the whole point.”
Putin admitted he wished more topics had been raised in the interview, but praised Carlson for sticking to his plan.
Many slammed Carlson online. Liz Cheney, a former House Republican leader who was ousted for her strong criticisms of former President Donald Trump, wrote on social media: “This is what Putin’s Russia is, Tucker Carlson. And you are Putin’s useful idiot.”
The backlash to Carlson has increased even further since the announcement of Navalany’s death.
Navalny had been a fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin and was jailed in 2021 following a string of convictions widely considered to have been politically motivated.
Alexei Navalny was confirmed dead yesterday
Reuters
Carlson spoke at a panel session during the World Government Summit in Dubai
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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia's penitentiary service was “making all checks” regarding Navalny's death, but that he had no information about the matter.
Meghan McCain, a former co-host of The View, said: “Don’t forget that Putin’s favourite useful idiot Kremlin propagandist Tucker Carlson didn’t give a s*** about Navalny’s life when asked about him a few days ago.”
Former Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, now of the Lincoln Project, said: “The world will be pointing to the murder of Navalny and trying to shame Trump’s party for supporting Putin.
“It won’t work. Trump wants Putin’s power. He is in court demanding immunity to murder opponents. Violence is at the core of Trumpism.
“As Tucker Carlson makes clear, Trump supporters look at Russia and ask, ‘Why can’t America be Russia?’ They hate the America we love. They must be defeated.”