Tucker Carlson launches scathing attack against Biden administration after interviewing Vladimir Putin

Tucker Carlson launched a scathing attack against the Biden administration after interviewing Vladimir Putin as he claimed that the Russian president was extremely "hurt" by the rejection of the West.

In a reaction video, Carlson stated that the Russian Premier was not good at explaining himself as he never had to do so and nor did he give enough interviews previously, which is why he could not put forward his stance coherently.

“Putin doesn't do a lot of interviews, not good at explaining himself. He is smart but doesn't have to explain himself. He didn't lay out his case very coherently. He is very wounded by the rejection of the West. Moscow is a very European city… but the West rejected Russia,” Carlson said.

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The American journalist then stated that Russia was not an "expansionist power" and that Putin was angry as he thought the West and Russia were going to be friends.

“He didn't have a coherent theory why he is hated by the West. Russia is not an expansionist power because the ideologues that run the State Department want to make him like Hitler or Imperialist Japan. Russia's the biggest land mass in the world and they have 80 provinces. They have more than enough natural resources. The idea they want to take over Poland is (preposterous). They want secure borders and there's no evidence they want to roll into Vienna. He said he is angry because he thought we were (the West and Russia) were going to be friends,” he added.

He further stated that the Russian president wanted a peace deal in Ukraine and then went on to flagellate the US State Department which he dubbed “lunatics”.

He said: “They want a weak leadership in Russia. Why would you want that? A weak central government in a country with the world's biggest nuclear stockpile is insane, especially a country as large and potentially fractious, with so many religions and 20% Muslim population. You are freaking nutcase if you desire that. Our track record of knocking out the leader is spotty at best and to do that to Russia, you are on drugs if you think that's a good idea.”

American journalist Tucker Carlson, who came under the spotlight on Thursday (Feb 8) after he interviewed Russian President Vladimir Putin, had previously accused the Biden administration of sabotage claiming that the US government illegally spied on him in a bid to prevent him from conducting a one-on-one with the Russian Premier.

In a preview video posted on Wednesday (Feb 7) on social media platform X, he said that the US government leaked his text messages to other media platforms in order to stop him from interviewing the Russian president.

"Almost three years ago, the Biden administration illegally spied on our text messages and then leaked the contents to their servants in the news media. They did this in order to stop a Putin interview that we were planning. Last month, we're pretty certain they did exactly the same thing once again," he said.

'Americans have a right to know about Ukraine-Russia war', says Carlson

Carlson, further elucidating the reason why he was conducting the controversial interview, said that it was America's right to know Putin's stance on the war with Ukraine and the reason why the Russian president launched an offensive against Kyiv.

"Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now. You've never heard his voice. That's wrong. Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they're implicated in, and we have the right to tell them about it because we are Americans, too," the American journalist said.

"Freedom of speech is our birthright. We were born with the right to say what we believe. That right cannot be taken away no matter who is in the White House," he added.

White House rebuffs allegations

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rebuffed Carlson’s allegations dubbing them as “ridiculous”.

On being asked about Carlson's interview during her regular press briefing on Tuesday, (Feb 6), Pierre said that the American journalist's statement was “a ridiculous premise and a ridiculous statement” about the administration.

“So I just want to be very very clear — it’s just ridiculous,” she added.

The two-hour interview with Carlson, a former Fox News host and right-wing commentator who supports former US president Donald Trump, was recorded in Moscow.

It was the first interview given by Putin to a Western media outlet since his troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Carlson, who has been a staunch critic of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, had earlier levelled allegations in June 2021 that the National Security Agency was “monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.” The NSA had dismissed the claims.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.