Tucker Carlson is speaking about his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin and says there are portions of the interview he’s dumbfounded by.
The former Fox News host joined Glenn Beck for his BlazeTV program to discuss the high-profile interview. Carlson has received plenty of backlash for his sit-down interview with Putin, with critics calling the dialogue with the dictator ‘Pure Propaganda’ and saying he acted ‘like an eager puppy’ during the conversation.
“I was enraged because I thought — I didn’t go into the interview feeling like I had to posture, morally,” said Carlson of the first few long-winded answers from the Russian leader. “I took a look at the last interview he did with the Western journalist, and the entire interview was the reporter from some dumb news outlet being like, ‘I’m a good person, you’re a bad person!’ I’m not interested in proving I’m a good person. People can assess, God can assess. I just wanted information.
“But I was infuriated because I thought he was filibustering. So really pretty straightforward. The obvious question which is, why did you do this? Why do you send troops into eastern Ukraine? And he goes on this long answer, and so I interrupted him a couple of times, or I tried to. He got very snippy,” admitted Carlson. “And then I realized, no, this is the answer. He’s thinks differently.”
Tucker Carlson then noted he wasn’t entirely sure of Putin’s reasoning for taking the interview, but admitted if the goal was to turn Western support to Russia’s side, the leader failed in that mission.
“I’m not sure I understand exactly what he was doing. So I shouldn’t pretend that I do. There’s a lot about that interview that I don’t really understand. I don’t think he was very effective. If his goal was to win a Western audience to his perspective.
“It didn’t make me more pro-Putin. Not that I was. And by the way, I should just say at the outset, I’ve been accused of being pro-Putin and I’m not, but if I was, that’s okay, too, right? I’m an adult man and an American. I can like or dislike anyone I want. I can have any opinion I want. I’m not ashamed of it. And the idea that like, a small number of people in D.C. get to decide what I believe is not something I accept.”
