A brief recap of Tucker Carlson’s interview of Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not give very many interviews in general. When it was announced that former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson would be getting one on his independent web show, it surprised many. It has amassed 200 million views on X, and 16 million views on YouTube. Many sound-bites and clips of the interview are going around, but I took it upon myself to sit and watch the whole thing over my winter break.
Carlson begins the interview with a very simple question, the one that I’m sure lots of Westerners would also have liked to ask: why invade Ukraine? Rather than respond with a simple answer, which he eventually does give, Putin gave an exhaustive account of the history of the Russian state, going back to the ninth century. The Russian President is interrupted several times by a befuddled Carlson, trying to figure out what Prince Rurick could possibly have to do with his decision to invade Ukraine in the year 2022. Each time, Putin smiled and continued with his speech.
Putin brought his point back around eventually. He made the case that Russian land traditionally stretched to the city of Kyiv up until the revolution of 1917. Then, he says, Vladimir Lenin and later Joseph Stalin allowed a separate Ukrainian state to flourish as an autonomous member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Most Americans would assume that the Russians were oppressive to the smaller client states of the USSR, but according to Putin, they were a little too nice. When the USSR fell, this separation opened the door to Western allegiances in the region.
When Carlson finally asks for a direct answer to his original question, Putin puts it in simple terms. In 2014, he claims, Ukraine’s Russia-friendly government was overthrown by a coup-d'etat. Carlson asked, “With the backing of whom?”
Putin responded, “With the backing of CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), of course, the organization you wanted to join back in the day, as I understand.” Putin is coyly referencing the fact that Carlson tried and failed to get a job at the CIA right after graduating. He believes that the current Ukrainian government was set up by the United States to exert pressure on Russia.
One of the biggest claims made in the interview was about finding peace. Putin claimed that he was ready to make a deal as soon as possible if anyone would present him with one. He then went on to say that peace plans had already been written up in the spring of 2022, and some Ukrainian officials had begun to sign them. But, before they were finalized, Putin claimed that former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson convinced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to continue fighting rather than back down. This claim is disputed by Johnson.
By Luke Morris