Controversial right-wing US journalist Tucker Carlson will shortly launch an interview he carried out with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It stands as the primary time Mr Putin has been interviewed by Western media because the invasion of Ukraine started.
In a video shared on the X social media platform, Carlson – who was fired from Fox News in April final 12 months and has been a vocal supporter of Mr Putin – stated he’s doing the interview to “inform” Americans.
Here we check out what Carlson has beforehand stated concerning the Russian president, Ukraine and the battle.
Vladimir Putin and Russia
Russia and Mr Putin have typically been utilized by Carlson in his arguments in opposition to the American left – claiming the Democrats used Moscow as a scapegoat for home points attributable to their poor governance.
Back in 2017, the then host of Fox News stated Vladimir Putin posed no hazard to the US, accusing “the left” of seeing the Russian chief “behind every problem” that befell the nation.
The following 12 months he warned the American public to not fall for “propaganda” that aimed to get them to “hate Russia”.
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His rhetoric ramped up within the months main as much as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, stating that liberals within the US “hate” America greater than Mr Putin, and stating that “Russia is not our enemy”.
He additionally referred to as on Americans to query why they “hate” Mr Putin.
“It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, what is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?” he stated.
Narrowing the query to his personal private expertise, he stated: “Has Putin ever called me a racist?
“Has he threatened to get me fired for arguing with him? These are honest questions, and the reply to all of them is: ‘No. Vladimir Putin did not do any of that’.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the interview with Mr Putin was granted because Carlson’s approach differs from the “one-sided” reporting of traditional Western news media.
Mr Peskov added that the former Fox News host’s position is “totally different from the others”.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine
Carlson has typically portrayed Ukraine as a sufferer in a battle between the US and Russia, however accused its chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy of taking advantage of the battle to determine a “dictatorship”.
In 2019, Carlson stated the US “should probably take the side of Russia if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine”.
He additionally described Ukraine as a “pure client state of the US State Department” and the then looming battle as a “border issue”.
He constantly urged Ukraine was caught in between the US (and by extension NATO) and Russia.
“We don’t arm Ukraine so we can help the Ukrainians – they are merely unfortunate pawns in all of this,” he stated.
“We arm Ukraine so that we can punish Russia… for stealing Hillary Clinton’s coronation.”
He later commented on President Zelenskyy himself.
“Whatever you think of the war in Ukraine, it is pretty clear Zelenskyy has no interest in freedom and democracy,” he stated after the invasion.
“He is a dictator, he is a dangerous authoritarian who has used $100bn in US tax dollars to erect a one-party police state in Ukraine.”
Carlson additionally stated the Ukrainian president was nearer to former Soviet Union chief Vladimir Lenin than US founding father George Washington.
Last evening, he accused the West of taking part in into Ukrainian propagandists’ fingers in wartime interviews, and stated he had additionally provided Mr Zelenskyy the prospect to talk with him.
The battle
Carlson stated he was “totally opposed” to Western sanctions and was “on Russia’s side” on a number of events – typically claiming to be joking however later doubling down.
A number of months into the battle, he claimed “by any actual reality-based measure, Vladimir Putin is not losing the war in Ukraine”.
“He is winning the war in Ukraine and Joe Biden looks at that and says we won’t stop until you proffer an unconditional surrender.”
In a video launched final evening, he stated the battle in Ukraine is a “human disaster” that has altered longstanding political and commerce realities all through the world.
“And yet the populations of the English-speaking countries seem mostly unaware, they think that nothing has really changed and they think that because nobody has told them the truth,” he stated.
“Their media outlets are corrupt. They lie to their readers and viewers and they do that mostly by omission.”
Source: information.sky.com”