Who is Tucker Carlson? The man who secured an exclusive interview with Vladimir Putin

Tucker Carlson is a conservative journalist who, throughout his career, has helped ‘bring far-right viewpoints and vocabulary’ to the forefront, explains Britannica. During Donald Trump’s presidency, Carlson gained influence. Indeed, the President was a keen viewer of his Fox News show.

Just like Trump, Carlson is known for his white nationalism and his support and fascination for authoritarian leaders. As such, interviewing Vladimir Putin was sure to be on his wish list. However, no one could have predicted that the journalist who is no longer attached to any news outlet, could do it. Well he has!

Tucker Carlson’s Vladimir Putin’s interview

On Thursday 8 February, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been interviewed by American journalist Tucker Carlson. Already, this was quite surprising but Carlson didn’t just manage to secure a Putin interview – he secured Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist ever since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The interview was shot on 6 February in Moscow where Carlson travelled to talk to Vladimir Putin. Many topics were tackled in the two-hour long interview, including Boris Johnson’s alleged involvement in preventing peace talks. In a video released on his X profile, Carlson explains his motive behind wanting to do the interview.

First he explains that it took ‘many months’ for he and his team to decide to do it mentioning the ‘risks’ of doing such an interview. Then he goes on to explain that doing the interview was a natural choice as he is ‘in journalism’. Expanding on that, he said:

Our duty is to inform people. Two years into a war that’s reshaping the entire world, most Americans are not informed. (...) But they should know. They’re paying for much of it in ways they might not fully yet perceive.

In his video, Carlson continues and adds that the reason for this is the corruption and lying that takes place in the media in English speaking countries. He also calls out news outlets for interviewing Ukrainian President Zelensky and says these interviews were motivated by his desire to see the US get more involved in the war in Europe.

Carlson continues his explanation like this:

(...) not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict, Vladimir Putin. That’s wrong.

He then claims that this is a case of freedom of speech being limited by ‘whoever is in the White House’. The interview is available in full on Tucker Carlson’s website as well as on his X profile.

Who is Tucker Carlson?

As previously mentioned, Tucker Carlson is an American, right leaning journalist. According to Britannica’s profile on him, Carlson was educated at Trinity College after which he tried to join the CIA but was rejected.

He then turned to journalism and quickly worked for conservative publications. In 2000, he joined CNN where he co-hosted The Spin Room. This show was cancelled very quickly, just like his other endeavors at CNN. He then joined MSNBC where he hosted Tucker until 2008. In 2009, he joined Fox News where his show became the most watched broadcast ever on the channel.

Carlson left Fox News in April 2023 after what was an apparent unplanned exit on his part. Indeed, at the time, it appeared he didn’t receive any notice of his dismissal and told viewers he would see them the following Monday. After this huge blow the journalist quickly bounced back and launched his own show on X called Tucker on X.

Tucker Carlson's net worth

His career in journalism, as controversial as it has been has allowed him to enjoy a reported net worth of $30 million according to Yahoo Finance. The publication also explains that Carlson and his wife own several properties in Washington.

Read more:

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⋙ Vladimir Putin: Russian president reveals how much he earns in race for re-election

Sources:

BBC News: Tucker Carlson interviews Russia's Putin - Kremlin

Britannica: Tucker Carlson

Yahoo Finance: How Rich is Tucker Carlson As He Leaves Fox News?