Tucker Carlson left Moscow more than a week ago, riding high from an interview with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that thrust him back into the spotlight after he was abruptly canceled by Fox News last spring.
But the interview with the wartime dictator, mocked in various corners of the political media world for its soft touch, continues to have a long and tortured afterlife – becoming a hot topic again on Friday after the most intense domestic an opponent of Mr. Putin. Aleksei A. Navalny, found dead in a Russian prison.
“This is Putin’s Russia, @TuckerCarlson,” Liz Cheney, the former Republican congressman from Wyoming, wrote to X after news of Mr Navalny’s death broke on Friday. “And you’re Putin’s useful idiot.”
Naomi Biden, the granddaughter of President Biden, also stood out, showing a video Mr. Carlson had recently released in which he contrasted the supposed greatness of Russia under Mr. Putin with the “filth and crime” of United States. “Has anything aged this badly, this quickly before?” Ms. Biden wrote to X.
In a statement to The New York Times on Friday, Mr Carlson said: “It is appalling what happened to Navalny. The whole thing is barbaric and awful. No decent person would defend it.”
The comment represented a marked change in tone from earlier this week, when he appeared to offer a bullish view of Russia’s treatment of Mr Navalny, who was first jailed three years ago on corruption charges and “ extremism’ that the United States called unfounded.
Asked at a conference in Dubai on Monday why he did not ask Mr Putin about Russia’s crackdown on free speech, the jailing of Mr Navalny or suspected political killings, Mr Carlson said those were “the things for which every other American media is talking about.” (Mr. Carlson was, in fact, the first Western media personality to interview Mr. Putin in more than two years.)
But, Mr Carlson said at the time, “leadership requires you to kill people – sorry, that’s why I wouldn’t want to be a leader” – comments that have drawn even more criticism since Mr Navalny’s death.
Mr Carlson said in a statement on Friday that his remarks about the leadership had “nothing to do” with Mr Navalny. “I wasn’t referring to him, which is obvious in the context. I am totally against murder.”
Although Mr. Carlson pressed Mr. Putin during the interview about the detention of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkowitz, he remained silent for long stretches as Mr. Putin delivered a history lecture that provided a one-sided and often false narrative about Ukraine. .
Fans and supporters of Mr. Carlson at X portrayed criticism of his interview as sour grapes from mainstream journalists who failed to interview Mr. Putin themselves.
But on Wednesday, a new pundit joined the chorus of those who said Mr. Carlson had been too easy on Mr. Putin — Mr. Putin himself.
Speaking to a state TV host, Mr Putin said he was disappointed that Mr Carlson did not ask “the so-called sharp questions” because he wanted the chance to “fire back” on his own answers.
“He turned out to be patient and listened to my lengthy dialogues, especially those related to history, and he didn’t give me a reason to do what I was ready for,” Mr. Putin said. “So, frankly, I didn’t get a whole lot of satisfaction out of this interview.”
Justin Wells, one of Mr. Carlson’s top producers, responded Friday that viewers should “judge for themselves.”
Mr Putin’s mockery of Mr Carlson came as the former Fox host basked in the aftermath of his interview offering a steady stream of praise for Russia and Mr Putin, whose leadership has been hailed as superior to that of Mr .Biden.
On Wednesday, Mr. Carlson released a short video recorded in a Russian grocery store, saying the selection and prices offered an example of Russia’s superiority over the United States, which he described as full of “filth, crime and inflation.” .
“Coming to a Russian grocery store, the heart of evil, and seeing what things cost and how people live will radicalize you against our leaders,” he said in the video. “That’s how radicalized I feel, anyway.”
(Russia has more than double the inflation rate of the United States, and its citizens spend a larger percentage of their household budgets on groceries.)
The video drew a bipartisan rebuke: from Naomi Biden and, before her, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina.
As a longtime warrior of pro-Russian narratives who now rely on subscriptions from those drawn to such content, Mr. Carlson operates in a realm where the criticism he received this week could be a catalyst for even more support.
“It’s just measured by a completely different yardstick,” said Nicole R. Hemmer, an associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University who studies conservative media. “Tucker under attack is great for Tucker.”
