Vladimir Putin's Press Secretary Calls Out Tucker Carlson's Claims About Western Journalists Refusing to Interview Russian Leader
Tucker Carlson pressed Vladimir Putin on a WSJ reporter's imprisonment.
Feb. 7 2024, Published 2:30 p.m. ET
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov called out Tucker Carlson for claiming that no Western journalists have tried to interview Vladimir Putin, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Carlson made the claim in a video post announcing his interview with the Russian president.
Gershkovich has been imprisoned in Russia for nearly a year without a trial.
In the announcement, which the ousted Fox News host posted to X, Carlson made sweeping allegations about the coverage of the Ukraine war. Carlson blasted Western media outlets and accused them of lying to viewers and readers.
During his condemnation of major news outlets, the ex-primetime anchor presented himself as the only journalist willing to take on the "risks" of interviewing the despot. "Not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict, Vladimir Putin," he said. But Putin's press secretary called his bluff.
Peskov said interview requests from major outlets have been denied because they were 'one-sided.'
"Mr. Carlson is not correct, but he couldn’t have known that," Peskov told the New York Times.
"We receive a lot of requests for interviews with the president, but mostly, as far as countries in the collective West are concerned, these are from major network media: traditional TV channels and large newspapers that don't even attempt to appear impartial in their coverage."
"Of course, there's no desire to communicate with this kind of media," the Kremlin press secretary added.
Putin insinuated that the WSJ reporter was acting as a 'spy.'
In the same report, Carlson's message was branded "a sign that the Russian leader is seeking to make a direct appeal to American conservatives as U.S. aid to Ukraine hangs in the balance."
Peskov confirmed Carlson's interview with Putin was filmed on Tuesday but did not elaborate on when it would be released.
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Carlson's interview announcement is not the first time he's been accused of being a Putin apologist. Additionally, the timing of Carlson's interview and Peskov's admission of rejecting interviews with "impartial" outlets, presumably those that would not cover Putin or his agenda in a favorable light, was striking.
Carlson's claims against Western media were made as Congress prepared to vote on a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine.
Carlson was slammed online and accused of spreading Putin's propaganda.
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Online, critics slammed Carlson and accused him of being a Putin apologist.
"Peskov effectively calling Carlson a liar here. Looks like Carlson's assumed stance on Putin was why they accepted the interview request, to the surprise of no-one," Eliot Higgins wrote on X. "He's just being Putin's little propaganda doggie."
CNN's Abby Phillips asked David Axelrod his thoughts on the interview, to which he replied, "When I first heard he was there, I assumed he was there to get an award. There isn’t an American who has done more for Vladimir Putin than Tucker Carlson."
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