Putin Humiliates Tucker Carlson After Interview

Vladimir Putin has complained about Tucker Carlson failing to ask him "tough questions" during their high-profile encounter last week.

Talking to Russian journalist Pavel Aleksandrovich Zarubin on state-television Rossiya-1 on Wednesday, the Russian president said: "To be honest, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask so-called sharp questions. I was not just prepared for this, I wanted it, because it would give me the opportunity to respond in the same way."

Putin added that he did not "feel full satisfaction from this interview," delivering yet another blow to Carlson, after he humiliated the broadcaster during the interview by ignoring almost all of his questions and barely letting him speak.

The interview with the former Fox News host—which was over two hours long—was the first Putin has given to an American journalist since before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022—nearly two years ago—despite many attempts from Western media and reporters.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told reporters that the president gave an interview to Carlson because "he has a position which differs" from other Western media. Before his departure from the network, Carlson used his platform on Fox News to question American support for Kyiv.

Newsweek contacted the Tucker Carlson Network for comment by email on Thursday, outside of normal working hours.

Carlson's interview with Putin, which was held in Moscow, was dominated by the Russian president's lengthy lecture on the history of Russia and Ukraine, which in his eyes justifies Russia's invasion of its neighbor. Despite the fact that Putin's claims were deemed "a complete falsehood" by experts such as Sergey Radchenko, a historian at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, when interviewed by the BBC, Tucker did little to challenge the authoritarian leader on his narrative.

Putin's mockery of Carlson wasn't as subtle as just talking over him and dismissing his questions. During the interview, the Russian leader mentioned Carlson's attempts to get a job with the CIA after leaving Trinity College in Connecticut, which were unsuccessful, according to the New Yorker.

"We should thank God they didn't let you in. Although it is a serious organization, I understand," Putin said.

In the same interview with Rossiya-1, Putin said he would rather have another Joe Biden presidency than see Donald Trump back in the White House, as the Democrat is a "more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of the old formation."

The Russian leader dismissed concerns about Biden's age, which have been prominent as the incumbent is busy with his campaign for reelection, saying the last time he met him in person in 2021 he didn't notice anything peculiar with his behavior. But he added that Biden's condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine—which is still being referred as a "special military operation" by Russian authorities within the country's territory—was "extremely harmful and erroneous."