Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who now has a show on the social network X, has been seen in Moscow in recent days, prompting speculation in Russia and the United States that he is about to achieve his long-held goal of interview. President Vladimir V. Putin.
If so, Mr. Carlson would be the first American media figure to give an official interview with the Russian leader since he invaded Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Mr Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has said Mr Putin is refusing Western requests for new exits because their countries have been “stunned” by anti-Russian propaganda. But Mr. Carlson has been a defender of Mr. Putin while attacking his Western critics, placing him at the forefront of a pro-Putin wing of the American conservative movement.
In a call with reporters on Monday, Mr. Peskov said: “Many foreign journalists come to the Russian Federation every day. Many continue to work here and we welcome that.” He added: “Regarding possible interviews with the president, including with foreign media, we have nothing to report at this time.”
Russian media on Monday showed a black Mercedes van said to have transported Mr. Carlson to Moscow entering and then leaving the state administrative building that houses Mr. Peskov’s office.
On television and online, Russian state media treated Mr. Carlson like a visiting celebrity, offering a stream of photos and videos of his various stops — at the airport, eating at a restaurant, the Spartacus ballet at the Bolshoi Theater.
In a video widely circulated, including by X, Mr. Tucker told a fan who says he was there because “I wanted to talk to people and look around and see how he’s doing — and he’s doing really well.” Asked about a possible interview with Mr. Putin, Mr. Carlson shrugged and said: “We’ll see.”
Less than a year ago, Mr. Carlson was one of the top stars of cable news, as host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Fox News, where he was best known for peddling white nationalist themes and conspiracy theories.
Fox abruptly canceled the show last spring after a series of controversies both on and off the air. Mr. Carlson has kept a much lower profile since his new perch at X, where he launched his own show last year.
As photos and video of Mr Carlson in Moscow began to circulate on social media over the weekend, his fans were basking in their hope that an interview was forthcoming – and his critics blasted what they portrayed as appeasement of an autocrat waging an illegal war while brutally destroying disputes at home.
The news of his arrival in Russia received an undeniably warm reaction in Moscow. In a report on the local reaction to his visit, one woman tells an interviewer on the Russian state broadcaster Sputnik, “He is the bravest and most courageous American journalist today.” One man adds: “He is known for telling the truth, which is why he often faces criticism in the United States.”
Mr. Carlson is a familiar face in the country. While still at Fox, Mr. Carlson’s comments often appeared on Russian state television, including those that painted Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, as a “dictator” waging a war of “regime change” against Russia at the behest of the Americans and British. gentlemen. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It did so with the express aim of overthrowing Mr. Zelensky’s government.
After Mr. Carlson was canceled on Fox, the Russian media attributed it to his “fearless” reporting on Ukraine.
Mr. Carlson claimed without evidence that the US government had blocked his earlier attempt to interview Mr. Putin.
Mr. Carlson has promoted his X show as a bastion of free speech.
Mr Putin has stepped up restrictions on free speech in Russia during the Ukraine war. Media in the country were instructed to report it as a “special military operation”. The journalists face possible jail time for calling it an invasion.
Mr. Putin’s government has imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkowitz for nearly a year. The government has charged him with espionage — a charge strongly denied by Mr. Gershkowitz, his newspaper and the United States government, which has said he is being wrongfully detained.
