American journalist Tucker Carlson is harshly criticized by the American network CNN for the interview he gave to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Now it’s obvious why Vladimir Putin gave an interview to Tucker Carlson. During the two-plus hours, the former Fox News anchor turned online commentator largely avoided questioning the authoritarian Russian, whose brutal war in Ukraine has led to the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Those expecting a “tough showdown” will surely have come away very disappointed by the long and rambling interview, in which Tucker himself at times he looked lost” CNN reporter Oliver Darcy comments in his article.

All interview in English

Instead of pressing Putin on the many issues at hand, including credible accusations that Russia has committed war crimes and the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Carlson gave the autocrat a “free lane” to manipulate the public to to tell his own version of the story, however misleading it may be. At times, between complaints, Putin appeared to teach Carlson for historical events as the host (s.s. the journalist) he looked puzzled. Or to put it more bluntly, Carlson provided Putin with a platform to spread his propaganda to a global audience with little to no scrutiny of his claims.

“What you see watching the first 45 minutes is that this is President Putin’s platform”noted Clarissa Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, adding that it was “clear from the beginning” of the interview that Carlson ”he was not in control”. In some cases, Carlson even fueled Putin’s narratives. For example, Putin promoted an absurd deep state conspiracy theory that the US government is controlled not by its elected leaders but by unelected forces in the Central Intelligence Agency who direct the president like a puppet from the shadows. (…) Carlson never questioned the absurdity. It was a huge propaganda victory for Putin, who can now – and will – use the meeting for his own purposes.

If there was any doubt that Putin did not view the meeting with Carlson as a major victory, a look at how his own state media covered the affair should erase it. After Carlson posted the conversation online, Putin’s mouthpieces immediately rushed to amplify it. TASS featured the interview as the top story on its homepage, reinforcing Putin’s claim that Ukraine is an “artificial state” and devoting an entire section of its website to special coverage of the interview. RT, the English-language broadcaster now in exile from most of the Western world, carried significant portions of the interview on its air. “VLADIMIR PUTIN’S INTERVIEW GAINS OVER 20 MILLION VIEWERS IN FIRST TWO HOURS,” RT commented with an on-screen graphic. None of this should be surprising (…) Carlson’s commentary on Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine has been anything but favorable to Kiev, with the far-right extremist even likening Volodymyr Zelensky to a parasite last year.

This is exactly why Putin agreed in the interview with Carlson, while the real journalists who would press the Russian leader on a number of critical issues have been denied access for years. You don’t have to take our word for it. Putin’s own spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters this week that Carlson was chosen because he “has a position that is different from the rest” of the Western media.

There was one moment, however, when Carlson “gently” pushed Putin. At the end of the interview, he asked Putin if he would be “willing” to release Evan Gershkovich, the imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter. Putin refused to release Gershkowitz immediately, of whom Carlson said: ”He’s a kid and maybe he broke your law in some way, but he’s not a super spy and everybody knows that.” While Carlson supported Gershkowitz’s immediate release, his remark was not met with favor in The Journal. Ed Mann, a reporter for the paper, wrote in X that it was ”embarrassing for Carlson to imply that Evan was “violating (Russian law)”.”He wasn’t,” Mann added. knows. Evan is a law-abiding, decent reporter being held hostage for geopolitical pressure. He must be released immediately.” The newspaper also published a statement after the interview.”Evan is a journalist and journalism is not a crime.”