A Lot of Folks Really Didn’t Like Tucker Carlson’s Interview with Putin

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Is Tucker Carlson a traitor for his interview with Putin?  Or is he just a journalist doing journalism?

Tucker aired his two-hour-long interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 8. It received over 200 million views within the first week.

Why would he do an interview with Putin?

Tucker did a short video before the interview explaining his reasons for conducting it.  He insists that he is not trying to tell anyone what to think, just exposing people to information not available from mainstream sources.

If Americans are sending huge sums of money to Ukraine, we should understand what’s going on.  He also notes that while the war has been a humanitarian disaster for Ukraine, it is also reshaping global alliances in ways Americans just don’t understand.  And that has to change.

What did Putin say?

Many Americans have not heard Putin’s side of the story.  According to Putin, the current war began in 2014 with the U.S.-backed Maidan coup in Ukraine.  Other sources agree. In 2019, Brookings published an article describing the “low intensity but nevertheless real war with Russia”

In 2010, Ukraine elected a Russian-friendly leader, Victor Yanukovych, who was undoubtedly a Russian-backed crook. In 2014, a series of protests began over Yanukovych scuttling a trade deal with the EU at the behest of the Russians, as well as general levels of corruption.  Putin insists that the CIA was involved in these protests.  While mainstream sources insist that Ukraine’s riots were organic, evidence has since emerged that the CIA was involved.

After these protests, another leader, Petro Poroshenko, was installed. Low-level fighting took place off and on for years.  Ethnic Russians living in Ukraine were killed during this fighting, and Putin gives this as his reason for ramping up his “special operation” in 2022.

Putin also brought up his desire to “de-Nazify” the region.  Tucker asked him a variety of questions about this, about how a ruler bans opposition parties in other countries.  Putin did not have a particularly clear answer.

However, his statements regarding NATO were more straightforward.  Putin said that, after the breakup of the USSR, Russian leaders were given assurances that there would be no further eastward expansion of NATO.  NATO’s continuous eastward expansion, particularly under President Bush Jr., has alarmed him.  Putin brought up multiple instances, under both Bush and Clinton, where he thought he could work with American presidents, only to have those personal agreements later undercut by unelected officials within the federal government.

Tucker asked Putin about his Russian Orthodox faith and how it aligned with his political action in Ukraine because, as Tucker noted, Christianity is supposed to be nonviolent.  Putin immediately deflected, saying that Eastern Christianity is far less concerned with one’s actions than Western Christianity and concerns itself with the state of one’s soul.

The last ten minutes or so were spent with Tucker pressing Putin about the release of Evan Gershkovich, the 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter who has been imprisoned in Russia for about a year.

The legacy media did not like this interview with Putin.

While many media outlets (CNN, The Independent, Irish Times) referred to it as a “softball interview,” Tucker attempted to redirect Putin multiple times during his initial half-hour-long history lesson, asking him to get to the point.  Putin, each time, insisted he was getting there.  His questions about Putin’s Christianity and Evan Gershkovich were polite but pointed.

I would never take Putin’s statements at face value. He’s a politician and former KGB.  Of course, he’s going to exaggerate some things and omit others.  We should all know this.  But listening to interviews such as these should encourage us to ask questions and find answers on our own.

Are there really Nazis in Ukraine?

Did American leaders promise not to extend NATO eastward and then do it anyway?

Do average Russians think their life has gotten better or worse under Putin?  What about Ukrainians and Zelensky?

Has the US been willing to discuss paths toward peace with Putin, or has Biden continually rejected the notion?

Did Ukraine and Russia come to a tentative agreement in April 2022, only to have Boris Johnson convince the Ukrainians not to back down?

The truth matters. These are all relevant questions.

Americans wanted to see this interview.

Tucker had a fine line to walk.

It’s not that easy to get interviews with heads of state.  While Putin has rejected interview requests from mainstream American outlets, he was willing to grant one to Tucker because, as explained by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, “His position is different from the others.  It is in no way pro-Russian, it is not pro-Ukrainian, it is pro-American, but at least it contrasts with the position of the traditional Anglo-Saxon media.”

Well, as we’ve discussed here before, Tucker does contrast with the rest of the media.

This interview got 200 million views in less than a week.  For some measure of comparison, MSNBC’s most popular news host, Rachel Maddow, typically gets between 2 and 2.5 million views per show.  Her interview with Liz Cheney got over 3 million, and that was a big bump.  Tucker was the big conservative cable news show host. Rachel remains the biggest liberal one.  And Tucker’s interviews sometimes score a hundred times as many views as Rachel’s.

Cutting through propaganda should be a priority.

Tucker’s appeal lies in that he doesn’t talk to his audience as though they’re subjects that need to be handled but like responsible citizens who genuinely want to know what’s going on.  He admits when he gets things wrong.  He tries to bring people with him on his journey toward truth.

Americans are becoming increasingly aware of propaganda, thanks to alternative media in part but also social media in general.  People can gossip with online friends all over the world in ways unimaginable 25 years ago.

I can remember when a phone call to a foreign country cost $4 or $5 a minute.  Five years ago, I was part of an online farming chat group moderated by a Canadian that included members from a wide variety of nations.  One could pick up news there (like the numbers of elderly Brits freezing to death because of climate policy) found in local papers but that major media outlets wouldn’t touch.

Legacy media is losing control of the narrative, and they know it.  At this year’s WEF conference, in the Orwell-inspired “Defending Truth” panel , WSJ’s Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker admitted as much.  “If you go back really not that long ago, as I say, we owned the news. . . . we very much owned the facts as well. . . . Nowadays, people can go to all different sources for the news, and they’re much more questioning about what we’re saying.”

These people believe that the average citizen must subscribe to a given narrative in order for society to function at all.  The need for rules and boundaries exists. The Founding Fathers knew this.  The U.S. and much of Europe functioned smoothly under Christian values. The Ottoman Empire was stable for hundreds of years under Islamic rule.

Look deeper into the outrage over the interview with Putin.

However, since the end of World War II, people worldwide have been encouraged to ditch religious identities in favor of secular well-being.  In place of religious admonitions, we are asked to go along with narratives as presented by government and media figures for the sake of national unity.  Think about the rhetoric used against Tucker Carlson.  Establishment figures like Bill Kristol and Adam Kinzinger aren’t disputing points with him. They’re calling him a traitor.  They speak emotionally rather than rationally.

At the World Government Summit in Dubai, Tucker described how, when he first pursued an interview with Putin several years ago, he realized that national security agencies were monitoring his text messages.  He was shocked; he had always believed that, as a law-abiding citizen, he had the right to do his job and tell the truth to the best of his ability.  He thought that the agencies were focused on external enemies, not internal dissent.

Control of the narrative consists just as much of omitting relevant information as it does promoting favorable stories.  There are so many questions we aren’t supposed to ask.  Why are we supposed to care so much about Ukraine’s border but not our own?  Why have our extensive sanctions not hurt Russia economically?    Why is our beef herd at its lowest level in over seventy years as people who presumably need to eat continue to pour into the country?

Love him or hate him, Tucker is an old-school journalist who sees it as his mission to get people to think about inconvenient truths.  The mainstream’s reaction by maligning him says more about them than it does about Tucker.

Former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, Frank Figliuzzi, wrote an article for MSNBC accusing Tucker of being a “useful idiot” in talking to Putin. Failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton agrees.  Though Figliuzzi seethed with contempt for Tucker throughout his article, he admitted that the interview would be useful as it would be analyzed by federal agencies.  He also finished on a somewhat threatening note, saying that Tucker’s devices were sure to be continuously monitored after his trip.

Tucker’s not a traitor. He’s just a journalist doing his job.  But the response of Figliuzzi and his colleagues reveals a trend within American governance that the Founding Fathers never intended.  They wanted the citizenry of this country to consist of informed individuals who took responsibility for the governance of the nation.  The desire to surveil dissenting voices, as Figliuzzi so evidently intends, was never supposed to be American.

That kind of behavior is something most of us expect from, well, the Russians.

What do you think about the interview with Putin?

Did you watch the interview with Putin? Did you have any specific takeaways from it? Do you think Tucker was wrong to interview the Russian president? Were there any surprises for you? And what do you think about the collective outrage from the MSM and the Left?

Let’s talk about it in the comments section.

About Marie Hawthorne

A lover of novels and cultivator of superb apple pie recipes, Marie spends her free time writing about the world around her.

Picture of Marie Hawthorne

Marie Hawthorne

A lover of novels and cultivator of superb apple pie recipes, Marie spends her free time writing about the world around her.

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  • I am well aware of who Putin is, his background etc. But ive not heard him waver since Ukraine War began. I trust him over our Govt who has lied to us from the get go on Covid, and on the Elections/Obama. I enjoyed the interview, Putin had the Floor and ws in control, and told his story.

  • I based this interview (though I didn’t need/want to view) that if the left is again bellyaching about it, it is a good thing.

    The American people can make decisions for ourselves when these interviews are done. Tucker got answers from the horses mouth. Something the MSM clearly hasn’t the stones to do for fear of being called out.

  • I ate a bag of Gibbles potato chips and drank a couple beers while watching the interview. The crunching and gulping in my ears didn’t interfere at all. I didn’t feel like I needed to hang on every single word of either the questions or answers. Nothing was learned. At all. Zero.

    This is a quote from my favorite comedian/philosopher, the late national treasure that was George Carlin:

    “Now, there’s one thing you might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here… like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There’s a nice campaign slogan for somebody: ‘The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.”

    The words “America/Americans” are interchangeable with “Russia/Russians”. Likewise, switch “politicians” for “journalists” and, as far as I’m concerned, the quote sticks.

    Putin is a reflection of the people of Russia. Biden is a reflection of the people of the USA. Not everyone in those two countries. Not even close, but, take a close look. Both B and P are oligarchs, mentally twisted psychopaths, and neither give a shit (really) about the people of their respective countries.

    The one thing I know about Russians in general (having known quite a few while I lived and worked in Alaska: they’re pretty much just like me. They want to live, love, produce, provide and be left alone, but there is always that percentage of people around us all that scheme, plot and excel at fomenting problems and attaching themselves to power. Those types Control the narrative and make everyone else feel the minority rather than the majority.

    • ~jim,
      Carlin’s logic about politicians and looking at what we have had for decades reflects badly on American society. Following the same logic about Putin makes Russian society look smarter. Traitors in the US are any who support any undeclared, unconstitutional war-we’ve had plenty of them and yeah, even the last declared one in 1941 was wrong, and the US Constitution is a joke. The last few years with all the face diapers, fist bumpers, and pincushion lab rats make it apparent that people are gullible. Nothing much has changed since people went along with fluoride in their drinking water to supposedly “prevent cavities” in 7 yr-olds. Brings to mind that movie line from Idiocracy: “it’s got electrolytes.”

      • ~jim I miss Carlin. his comments on politically correct speech were gold.
        A lot of Americans are just too lazy mentally to think for themselves. They want to believe whatever the msm tells them.

      • I disagree that the Constitution is a joke. It is our civic duty to ensure it is properly upheld by overseeing the public servants we elect. WE have been delinquent in our responsibilities and our founding docs are still there, waiting to be upheld or abolished. WE are the only ones who decide which it will be.

    • Ok, this is rich. Coincidence? You be the judge.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/russian-opposition-leader-alexey-navalny-dies-jail

      Hillary and Bill have some serious competition in the body count game. These people are all narcissistic school yard bullies playing with the lives of others. If there is a perceived slight or threat against them they hold a grudge and use their power to torture and kill.

      This is why the “Russia bad” narrative persists. Hillary got her ego hurt…

      https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+and+putin&sca_esv=0bd871f8ecc8a9a6&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwioh9yw8a-EAxUljYkEHSInDOsQ_AUIBigB&biw=768&bih=931#imgrc=lJMQQqMCwyzl_M

      It’s gang warfare with nuclear subs.

      • I’m not surprised at the death of the Russian opposition leader; this is what they do there. I’m not supporting their tactics. But here we have the sudden deaths of those who oppose the Clintons, the unexplained murder of the DNC staffer and the “suicide “ of Epstein to name but a few.

  • I did not watch the interview, but I’ve seen a clip where Putin talked about how the United States is weaponizing the dollar, and Putin was absolutely correct. The US needs other countries to use the dollar, but many are moving away from it, including the BRICS+ nations.

    Not only has Biden frozen nations out of the SWIFT system, but he froze $300 billion of Russian money in bonds. This is money Russia “loaned” to the United States to buy part of our debt. Not only did Biden freeze it, he’s threatened to seize it (steal it) and give the money to Ukraine.

    Not long ago, media was all over “defaulting” on our debt. But if a president can simply choose not to repay other nations, that’s far worse than a default. Why would any nation buy our debt? China’s holdings have dropped from $1.1 to about $800 billion, and they aren’t buying more. Instead, they’re buying gold. So are most European banks (possibly because most nations in the Euro zone are also running debts around 140% of their GDP).

    Biden and his advisors are aggressively undermining the value of and demand for the dollar (as supply increases and demand drops, the value of the dollar will drop). And they don’t seem to understand why their actions might have long-term consequences. Whatever you think of Putin, he has a far greater understanding of international monetary policy than anyone in our own presidential administration.

    • You’re spot on, and most people are clueless. The entire Western culture and “civilization” is set up to crash and burn. What the FED and our politicians are doing will make the coming decade make the 1930’s look like a vacation destination.

  • Tucker deserves praise for doing this but I thought his questions were a bit naive. The U.S. citizen in Russian prison is not a “kid” and Tucker must surely know we have 1000s of people spying over there as they do over here. And Tucker, following the law is in itself a sign of “humanity.” I got the impression that Putin was at times surprised or impatient with Carlsen’s “puppydoggery.” “C’mon, everyone knows he’s not a spy!”

    • Doc

      I doubt very much that the WSJ reporter is a spy. I imagine he was doing what many do here in the US and using sources to obtain confidential information. It backfired on him there and while I’m pretty sure they do know he isn’t a spy and really is just a WSJ Reporter, they will use him to barter with just as they did with the black lesbian basketball player who really did bring in illegal drugs .

    • Meanwhile opposition leader Navalny died in a Siberian gulag, supposedly hanged himself. The Secretary denies any knowledge of his actions…

      • I read that after a walk he collapsed onto the ground. He might have been poisoned or it might have been a heart attack. He was 47 or 48, and at an Arctic prison.

  • I watched the interview, which was long and, at times, tedious. However, I’m really glad Tucker did the interview (someone in the U.S. needed to actually talk with the guy we’re essentially fighting); I did learn important information about the 2014 coup, the Russian history in relation to Ukraine, and the fact that Putin has reached out to the U.S. and Europe since the Wall came down and been rebuffed then as well as during a likely peace deal in 2022. I don’t know why the RINOs and Dems have such a hatred of Russia (especially v. the government of Iran, China, etc.). It was good to get this out in the open.

    • The left loved the U.S.S.R. In fact, when Stalin and Hitler signed their non-agression pact in 1939, the left was pro-Hitler and vocal about America staying out of the war. But when Hitler broke the pact and invaded the Soviet Union, all of a sudden they were encouraging U.S. involvement. It wasn’t until the fall of communism in 1991 that leftists turned on Russia.

  • Thanks for this article.

    I watched the interview twice and learned a lot about the history of Russia and Ukraine and post USSR relations between Russia and NATO which I had not heard before from our own media.

    While I am not a fan of Putin, I must admit that he came across as more competent and intelligent than most of the politicians of both parties in the USA, as well as more committed to the welfare of his country and its citizens than our own elected representatives and government officials.

    I wonder how committed our own political class and media and multi-national companies are to the freedom and wellbeing of the USA and its citizens?

    And I wonder about the motivations of those who would like to suppress interviews like this.

  • I watched the interview last Thursday, and liked it. Putin was soft-spoken and civilized. The 35 minute lecture on medieval Russian history was boring. While Putin insisted it was relevant, it could have been summed-up in one minute, saying that Ukraine was always an integral part of Russia, not a separate state. I remember the early ‘90s. Putin was right to say that the West had promised to embrace the former USSR with open arms if it relinquished communism, then did nithing to help it when it did. Millions of Russians suffered from hunger, cold, and disease from this years-long abandonment.

    There were several agreements not to expand NATO membership further east toward Russia, and he’s right, they were broken. Russia WOULD be at increased risk of invasion if it ignored the NATO missiles along its border.

    Ukraine DOES continue to have a strong Nazi presence. Thousands of Nazis fled to Ukraine after WWII and spent the rest of their lives there, while building neo-Nazi groups. The Azov battalion in the Ukraine army is Nazi, and the assassination of the Dugina girl last year was carried out by a member of the Nazi brigade. Nazi insignia are proudly displayed on the army equipment. A major news outlet last year air-brushed them out of its photographs of army personnel.

    I believe it’s true that Bojo sabotaged the possibility of a peace agreement early in the war. Many elements in the West want this ruinous war, even now, when it’s clear that Putin will win and there’s no point in striving to kill every last man remaining in Ukraine.

    I believe that Putin wants a negotiated settlement to end the war, and we should take him up on it, and negotiate in good faith. Same goes for the journalist in prison for spying. Putin is willing to negotiate.

    He is way ahead of us in nuclear armaments. I saw this morning that Russia proposes to launch them from space. We should do everything possible to avoid nuclear war with Russia. It could easily drop a thousand bombs on us simultaneously, and we don’t have the means to detect them ahead of time.

    Ukraine attacked and killed many ethnic Russians living in the Donbas in the months before the war. Between the NATO encroachments and the attacks on Donbas, Putin was justified in invading Ukraine.

    It was strange that Carlson asked him how he could say he was Christian, but support killing in wars. Silly question, like a four year old. The Catholic Church has always had the just war doctrine. You have to, for survival. Putin said what Zi would have said, that every person has the right and the duty to protect, including with lethal force, his family and his people. Failure to do so from excessive scrupulousness could result in the murder of innocents, and you would share responsibility for their deaths from your cowardice.

    I was impressed by Putin, and agreed with most of what he said. Carlson did a super job!

  • I watched the interview the minute it was made available. I’m glad it happened although I didn’t think all of it was what I’d hoped. The long history lesson was interesting although not completely factual. I’d have preferred that it was shorter although the most striking aspect of it was the clear disparity between an intelligent and knowledgeable Putin and senile Biden using detailed crib notes. Although Putin definitely isn’t truthful at all times and is still the wily ex-KBG agent that he was, he made many valid points, especially as regards NATO, how Russia wanted to be accepted by the other nations after the collapse of the USSR and wasn’t, the provocations that brought on the invasion, the Maidan crisis, and how the US, UK and others wanted this war and refused to stop or end it. Kudos to Carlson for doing it. I’d like to see a round 2.

  • I’ve been watching a YouTube channel called Countryside Acres. It is being filmed by a Canadian family as they go about doing what they need to do to become residents and buying a farm in Russia. They sold their 200 acre farm and moved with 8 if their 9 children to Russia in the hopes of finding a more traditional, less woke, lifestyle. There are numerous other YouTube shows too, I discovered, being broadcast by people who immigrate to Russia. Many people who left there, evidently, are also going back. If one reads the translated comments, it seems Russians are happy with Puten. Opportunities and the more reasonable cost of living are attracting people. Russian cities appear very tidy, have good mass transit, and the store shelves they film are full! The sanctions seem to have made the country stronger. We tend to know so little about the rest of the world! For that reason alone, I was quite curious to listen to the interview!

  • I did watch the entire interview – it was almost entertaining to see Tucker squirming and getting irritated while being schooled on Russian history….but I thought it was interesting because its clearly different from what is in western history books. Do any of us know our real history? I’m of the opinion we do not, especially in the west. I’m glad Putin got to comment on Nordstream, the many broken promises from US and NATO. And, I’m also of the opinion there are Nazis here in the US – after all many were converting brought here under Operation Paperclip and funneled into the newly created CIA, space program, and of course politics (read up on the Bush family; hint “Bush” is a name change/modification from their family name in Germany).

    • Also entertaining was Putin calling out Tucker’s personal CIA connection, and his reaction. Putin was clearly baiting Carlson into a confrontation, and was a little disappointed he didn’t fall into the trap.

  • I didn’t watch the interview—I have a life beyond politics so I didn’t have the time to watch it. But I did read reviews of it on a site that the MSM hates where they had a few people give their reactions to it.

    First of all, Putin lied. Both by commission and omission. Putin omitted that Ukraine has a long history as an independent country. He also omitted the Holodomor. Those are two major reasons the Ukrainians are fighting so hard against the Russian invasion. Ukrainian is a cognate language to Russian, it is not Russian, even its alphabet differs from Russian. The so-called “Nazi” symbolism of the Azov group consists of letters in the Ukrainian alphabet that aren’t found in Russian.

    Putin omitted that the largest Nazi group in the world, let alone Europe, is the Wagner Group, recently renamed “Africa Corps”, which is fighting on the side of Russia because they are Russian Nazis.

    Putin lied about the fighting in the Dombas from 2014 to 2022—the fighters for the most part were not native Russian speaking Ukrainians, rather Russian troops who were smuggled into Ukraine. I learned this from both Russian and Ukrainian sources.

    Yes, the CIA was involved with the Maiden Revolution, but they got what the CIA didn’t want. Instead of a compliant Ukrainian government still under the thumb of Moscow, they got Petro Poroshenko who started going after the corruption left behind by the Russian occupation. They started with low hanging fruit, such as Burismo Oil who bribed the Bidens on behalf of Moscow. We know how Biden reacted to that.

    NATO never promised not to expand eastward. It promised not to go into East Germany, a promise it has kept.

    Putin lies about being a Christian. He’s still a doctrinaire communist. He just pretends to be a Christian for western audiences.

    Both Obama and Biden were told by Moscow to hide their connections to Putin and pretend to be Moscow’s enemies. But the wide open borders are following Moscow’s wishes, and Biden does as little as he can get away with in helping Ukraine without making it obvious that he is Putin’s slave. Even his “support” of Ukraine is designed to use up supplies we would need to repel an attack and invasion of the U.S. that Russia and China together have planned. Other policies that Biden pushes, such as the destruction of the U.S. military, are policies that Moscow wants.

    As for Tucker Carlson, the reviews I read say that he was woefully unprepared for the interview. As a result, Putin basically walked all over him. But Tucker Carlson has already indicated that he is pro-Russian. So the “interview” is basically an opportunity for Putin to push Russian propaganda.

    As for the MSM, I don’t have time to read and refute their lies. They are fickle. Their present support for Ukraine can disappear in an instant.

    I realize that I lot of what I mention here goes counter to what both Tucker Carlson and the MSM preach. And many on this site will agree with the Russian propaganda.

    Truth is the first casualty in war. Now we need to sift through all the reports coming out of Ukraine and Russia, and maybe we can find what is truly happening.

  • Say what you will about Putin, but the man certainly seems to put his country and countrymen first… must be refreshing. Truth should not fear being challenged by an opposing viewpoint. The fact that the legacy media so desperately tries to censor and prohibit other perspectives that conflict with their mainstream narrative shows us that what we hear and see should be sharply questioned, because chances are it is not true.

  • If Putin is our “enemy,” which I don’t think he is, it is always wise to know everything about one’s enemies. Read the ancient classic, The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It is applicable to life in general. In other words, know all you can about the world and the people everywhere. Don’t choose to be ignorant.

    • Biden can’t say anything coherent. He can’t remember, reason, or construct sentences. His mind is gone. I skip over all articles which mention anything he said. I’m just counting the days until November 5, and salvation! I’m sorry he has enough cunning left to think Voters! I need voters to vote for me and drag me over the line! Illegal immugrants! That’s the ticket, thirty million of them, I’ll give them the vote and they’ll all vote for me! Hamas? OK, back in October, even I was upset at their horrors. But hey, there are thousands of former immigrants in Michigan who for some reason are totally pro-Hamas! A lot more of them than there are Jewish voters! I’m sure if a jury wouldn’t find me criminally liable for anything, neither will my Final Judge!

    • 1stMarineJarHead I would love for Biden to do a two hour long interview. Sometimes I have trouble going to sleep and Biden mumbling his incoherent nonsense in an interview would put me to sleep in no time.

  • I’m not sure that this interview did anything at all to dissuade the MSM’s portrayal of Tucker as a “Putin Puppet,” but he at least had the cajones to do the thing.

    Putin had a good handle of the history of his country. Our “president,” on the other hand, doesn’t even have a handle on his bladder and bowel control, or know where he is at any given time. So there’s that.

    Did Putin lie to Tucker? Did he tell the truth? Who knows? In the end, he’s just a politician… In short though, Putin illustrated what I’ve been saying for a long time; we have NO REASON to take a side on a family squabble that’s been going on since the MIDDLE AGES!

    • @ Tom

      But then Americans should be asking themselves why we took a side and have sent huge amounts of money and weapons to Ukraine? It really is a family squabble that we provoked. The question is why we did this and why we have continued to prolong it? Generally I’d say follow the money and cui bono? And in this situation it’s not only that some in the US wish to control Ukraine which is right on Russia’s border but the US government declared its desire to severely weaken Russia by way of sanctions and the war. So it is using Ukraine and its people as a way to try to eliminate Russia as a superpower or potential threat. This isn’t working as Putin made clear.

      • The West has many old grudges with Russia it wishes to settle using Ukraine as its patsy; pick your fave. The English can’t stand losing to those slit eyed Asiatics, the Tribe wants to clear the field of all those pesky Banderites before moving into New Israel on the Dnieper, and of course our gov’t servants are all neck deep in the biggest kickback scheme ever, making them all insanely rich. How the achievement of those aims benefits you or me is not even an issue, especially considering that Russia’s got the upper hand in this whole affair.

    • Is it a family squabble? Or are the peoples so different that they want separate identities, similar to how the Checks and Slovaks go their separate ways? Seeing as they have different languages, wouldn’t it be the latter?

      Ukraine was invaded and made part of the most corrupt empire in Europe after the end of World War I, and suffered under that corrupt regime for most of a century. Don’t they deserve their independence? Don’t they deserve the chance to root out the corruption stealing from the people, the corruption imposed by that most corrupt regime in Europe? Or should they be turned back to be part of that corrupt evil empire that Reagan decried?

      That corrupt evil empire has stated in internal documents that they want to expand their rule to include all from Vladivostok to Lisbon. They also want to take back Alaska. The invasion of Ukraine is just the first step. How will the U.S. fare if they succeed? How should the U.S. respond to this naked, open aggression against an independent country? Well, we can bring this back to our own hemisphere where Venezuela is threatening to invade Guyana over territory that has been recognized as part of Guyana since the 1500s, how should we respond? Are we next in line to be attacked and invaded? Those who rule Russia and China don’t believe in nuclear winter, rather that nukes are just a more powerful weapon to be used, so they plan to use them. Are we ready?

      Knowing the enemy is important. Listening to the rants of Hitler could have given us a warning about World War II, but we ignored them. Tucker Carlson’s “interview” with Putin has given us no new information about Putin’s plans, but his lies, his propaganda, give us his “justification” for World War III which he has already started. Will we listen? Or will we just emote?

      • RO

        The point of his history lesson was mostly to show how Ukraine has historically been part of Russia. Part of my family emigrated from Russia over a hundred years ago but the part of Russia in which they lived is now called Ukraine. So yes, historically Ukraine has been part of Russia. And yes of course Putin wants the warm sea ports of Ukraine. And Ukraine has good farmland. It’s complicated. But he is right to reject having NATO installations on their doorstep.

        • Already back in the Tsarist days, the Russians invaded many countries, and called them parts of Russia. Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were made “parts of Russia” but the local peoples never lost their ethnic identities. The same is true of Ukraine. The present national flag of Ukraine was adopted during the Tsarist occupation of Ukraine.

          The history of eastern Europe is rather chaotic, with peoples split up and/or incorporated into different kingdoms willy-nilly with no consideration of ethnic identity. The same is true of Ukraine. Different countries fought over Ukraine after World War I until finally in 1921 the Soviets won. Putin lied. Ukraine was not “always part of Russia”. Using Putin’s logic, Alaska is part of Russia.

          During the 19th century, immigrants coming from any of the countries under Russian occupation, were listed as coming from Russia. That was just a political reality.

          As for having NATO installations on his doorstep, they are already there in Poland and the Baltic States. Now Finland has joined NATO thanks to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

          • RO

            Yes, the history of Eastern Europe is indeed rather chaotic with countries being absorbed by others and some leaving their “federations “ at a later date. As I’d pointed out, some of my family came from Russia but now that part is called Ukraine. Other family came from Lithuania but back then Russia had controlled it and my great grandfather was drafted into the Russian army. The rest of my family came from Austria but that area is now southern Poland. It’s always been like this. Nothing new. And really not our problem. The only reason for the US being involved has to do with the puppet government we installed in Ukraine subsequent to the Maidan event, the graft our President and his family have been accepting and the burning desire of many in the US government to weaken Russia.

        • Carla: Russia has by far the most corrupt government in Europe. The reason their blitzkrieg two years ago failed is because of their corruption. They came in with what was on paper an overwhelming force, only to be defeated in so many places that the war has lasted two years.

          A puppet government would not have put Burisma Oil, those who bribed Biden, on trial for corruption. This Ukrainian government has done so. It’s Russian propaganda that claims that Ukraine’s government is a puppet government.

          What we need to decide is, at what point is it worth our effort and support to stop Russian aggression? Will we stand aside, as we did after Hitler’s dismembering Czechoslovakia and Alschluß into Austria, which only whetted his appetite for more conquest? Or will we help the independent country of Ukraine eject those Russian aggressors to stop Russian aggression? That’s the question before us.

  • “Or is he just a journalist doing journalism?”
    Hardly. Tucker is a GREAT journalist, one of the most-watched in the world, doing Important journalism on a vital subject.
    It has been said that all wars are bankers’ wars. Maybe so, but I have been horrified at how easy it is to sucker most of us into murderous hate. We should demand journalism like this before entering ANY war.

    • Cia

      Thx for the Tom Luongo piece. I essentially agree with what he has written. When I was listening to Putin give his history lesson, I actually wondered how many Americans had the attention span to follow it. He was giving his own version of history to some extent but he was also trying to say that Russia has a long history, he’s proud of his country and that this too shall pass and they will survive anything the west throws at it. In fact he was pretty smug about how well Russia is doing economically now despite the sanctions. I think he was pretty clear that he desires and has always desired a negotiated settlement but the US and UK in particular wanted war. And that this could get really bad. And that he honestly doesn’t know who he actually can negotiate with.

      I was fascinated by the interview but as Luongo noted, so many brought their own biases to it. And so many such as some commenting here on OP didn’t actually listen to it but are basing their opinions on what others had to say.

  • I happened to be studying the Ukraine mess about 6 months prior to the Putin SpecOP.
    I read the 2014 treaty and tallied the Kyiv ethnics cleansing since the 2014 sham treaty.

    Putins history lesson was a demonstration that Ukraine was ultimately a gifted sovereignty that was never NOT connected to Russia over the last millennia.

    When they US terrorist state started trying to cause problems for Russia in the Ukraine, even threatening NATO membership, Putin demonstrated great patience for over 8 years regarding the Donbas. When the coup de ta become ongoing hostility to the entire eastern region of the country for being Russian connected is when a referendum to recognize those areas as new sovereign entities was ratified. When that occurred Putin waited until the Illegitimate Kyiv regime ramped up efforts to create more genocide in the eastern lands he stepped in and said enough.

    The USTS broke every promise and assurance ever given to Moscow about the region and made an enemy of a people that were not interested in being our enemy.

    Now, The Ukraine war is lost and a whole generation of that country are obliterated because the west wanted to make Russia an enemy when there was no need to do so.

    The ultimate Irony here is the USTS shot itself in the foot and inadvertently created the ultimate PR campaign on why we are the very very bad guys and now the majority of the rest of the world has no desire to use our reserve currency or even do business with us as they did in the past.

    We are Rome 2.0 and can only blame our own stupidity and moronic obsolete foreign hegemony attitude for our downfall

    • RRRic: you’ve analyzed the Ukrainian mess for six months prior to the Russian invasion? I’ve watched what happened there since before the Maiden Revolution in 2014. I’ve watched as Russian families complained that their soldier sons were sent to the Dombas to be killed in battle. I watched the news when Russia shot down a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine. As Stalin said, what counts is not who voted for whom, rather who counts the votes—Russia counted the votes in the referenda that Russia sponsored. Russia was the aggressor the whole time.

      I also watched when Ukraine tried to root out corruption, only to have Biden use his power as vice president to quash the investigation into Burisma Oil. Ukraine needed financial aid, and Biden made it subject to quashing attempts to root out corruption.

      When that low level aggression failed to topple the Ukrainian government, Putin sent in a blitzkrieg in 2022, which also failed.

      If you want to go back over the last thousand years, we have to start with the Swedish vikings who were called “Rus” who invaded and ruled. In fact they’re the ones who gave Russia its name. After them came the Mongols. After a century of Mongol rule, a small state managed to become independent. Through centuries of conquest, that small state got larger and larger. Through most of that history, Ukraine was not part of Russia. Putin lied.

      Now Putin wants a negotiated settlement? So far he has demanded the breakup of NATO, the return of all lands that were under Russian and/or Soviet control, and our surrender. The lands that were subject to Soviet terror include all of eastern Europe. The lands that historically were under Russian control include Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and northern California as far south as the north side of the Golden Gate. Is that a realistic demand? Can we agree to it? How many readers here would agree to those terms? Or do we help Ukrainians stop Russian aggression before it gets beyond Ukraine?

      It’s a hoot to see how the left twists themselves as pretzels to pretend to support Ukraine, while quietly stabbing them in the back. But it’s not so funny when people on the right fall for their propaganda, then jump to the other side to support the leftist evil empire. Tucker Carlson has revealed himself to be on the left. Maybe the leftist MSM attack him because they’re jealous.

      • I did come late to the game no question but I got there nonetheless and found all the intel right there for the learning.

        Putin didnt do anything but confirm what many discerning people like ourselves already knew. Still its great that 200 million more found out more than they ever knew.

        • RRRic: you came late to the table, and found Russian propaganda. You were ready to believe it because a lot of it is true. Just as the hardest lie to disprove is one that is 99% truth wrapped around the 1% falsehood, so you latched on to what is true, and swallowed the poison along with it.

          Russia is the side that broke the treaties, but then blamed NATO. Ukraine never considered joining NATO until after the Russian aggression in 2014. After that, NATO rules forbid application for membership for any country under active attack by another country, and Ukraine was under active attack by Russia. The CIA involvement in the Maiden Revolution was not a coup d’état because it did not accomplish what the CIA intended. Instead the Maiden Revolution accomplished what the Ukrainian people wanted. Yes, there were some Nazis in the Azov Brigade, but the largest Nazi organization in Europe is the Wagner Group which is Russian and fighting on the Russian side. Meanwhile Zelenskii is Jewish, as well as many other Ukrainians. As the chief rabbi in Ukraine stated, “I never thought I’d say this, but if opposing the Russian invasion makes me a “Nazi”, then I’m a “Nazi”.” Do you see how ridiculous that sounds?

          You need to look at both sides.

          Meanwhile, Putin’s documented lies make me distrust Russian propaganda.

  • I find it hilarious that people, especially the media, are complaining about the interview.
    MSM has interviewed Putin several times in the past and nobody complained.
    Now only Tucker is able to interview him. I think the media are jealous.

  • The only traitors we have to worry about are Biden, his traitors in the White House, the democrat party, the main stream media jackals and the RINOs (republicans in name only, actually democrats.), in the republican party. All of them are globalist puppets and not patriotic Americans.

    If you want a good laugh and another example of democrat projection then check out the globalist puppet news media web site http://www.poynter.org doing a fact check on the Putin interview. See below. They actually accused Putin of fueling divisions in the U.S. when Tucker referring to earlier Putin remarks about the presidents not really being in charge, Tucker said

    “So it sounds like you’re describing a system that’s not run by the people who are elected, in your telling.”
    “That’s right, that’s right,” Putin said.

    The primary mission of the Biden administration and the democrat party is to sow division in the United States. Their promotion of open borders illegal immigration, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DIE) policies and Biden even saying in a speech “Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul” is divisive, anti-American, anti-meritocratic and just plain treason.

    Speaking of traitors. United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas who is actually against securing the border was the subject of an impeachment vote recently. Three RINOs voted against impeachment.

    The fake republicans who voted against impeachment are Buck of Colorado, Gallagher of Wisconsin and McClintock of California.

    Argue and debate whatever you want about Putin and Russia. Two things we can say for sure though is that Russia has a patriot for President and we have a traitor for president.

    Thank You Marie Hawthorne for this excellent and well researched article.

    See
    How each US House member voted on impeaching Alejandro Mayorkas
    By Matt Stiles and Gillian Roberts, CNN Published 8:01 PM EST, Tue February 13, 2024
    https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/13/politics/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-vote-secretary-dg/index.html

    See
    3 conspiracy theories Putin promoted in his Tucker Carlson interview that Carlson didn’t challenge
    By: Jeff Cercone and Madison Czopek February 12, 2024
    https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2024/3-conspiracy-theories-putin-promoted-in-his-tucker-carlson-interview-that-carlson-didnt-challenge/

    See
    Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce
    June 25, 2021
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/06/25/executive-order-on-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-in-the-federal-workforce/

    By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 1104, 3301, and 3302 of title 5, United States Code, and in order to strengthen the Federal workforce by promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, it is hereby ordered as follows:…

    See
    A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility
    March 30, 2023
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/03/30/a-proclamation-on-transgender-day-of-visibility/

    “Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul”

  • I enjoyed the interview. Putin answered the question….”Why are you doing this? (war in Ukraine) in the most complete way possible. His last statement, “You can not separate the Russian soul.” was epic!

  • Did you watch the interview with Putin? Yes, I watched the interview. Did you have any specific takeaways from it? Yes, Russia will never permit Ukraine to be part of NATO. And economic sanctions are not a replacement for genuine diplomacy.

  • Thank you for this article, Daisy! It opened my eyes to a side of Putin and Tucker Carlson both, that I had never seen.
    I watched the interview from beginning to end, and am glad I did. I learned a lot just by listening to Carlson and what the interpreter had to say. I learned that Carlson, whether a Christian or not, doesn’t understand what the Bible has to say about killing. I learned the same about Putin, but I also learned that Putin is a lot smarter than I ever gave him credit for and more patriotic towards his country than I knew, also. (Ex-KGB not withstanding!) I wish we had leaders that loved our country as much as Putin loves his!
    I also understand a lot more about the CIA and more about how the U.S. corrupt leadership has for decades pushed the world into wars that have devastated so many families and left the corrupt puppeteers much richer in the end of things.
    Politicians, whether at their beginning or not, are all corrupt after the first year. When you compromise right with wrong, you’ve immediately allowed corruption to creep in, but then compromise is what greases the wheels of government (and the pocketbooks of the puppeteers).
    The U.S. is now headed for a civil war which I really believe can no longer be stopped, regardless of who gets into office. And this time it will be the most devastating, bloody and protracted war that anyone alive or dead has ever experienced. I can only pray that if I’m alive when it occurs, that I will never do anything that would bring grief to my Heavenly Father.
    Blessings to all,
    Old Duffer

  • You can trust the government…. Just ask the guys who live on American Reservations. lol. That goes for Russia or America. Government keep taking powers. The more power they hold the more power they take or demand the more completely what they seem to be holding for themselves. Under the constitution we were to have states as the preeminent seat of government. The federal government was to secure our borders, settle interstate differences, and wage wars. Not over rule states The rest of governance was pretty much up to the states. Not today! Also Congress was to have final authority over law making for the nation. And the Federal branch was to work for our national benefit. Today Washington seems to desire to interfere in everything on every level. And our poor constitution that made us strong and free is now treated like antiquated suggestions. And the leaders can ignore the constitution with impunity. And we are being told there is no such things as any guaranteed rights.
    It makes me want to just scream. From the president to many state governors we the people don’t seem to count anymore. It’s scary and disgusting. Temporary emergency rules sneak in and soon are law. Weirdness and lawlessness seem to be the rule of the day in our cities. We used to complain criminals were getting better treatment that law abiding citizens. Now it truly is the criminals and illegal aliens who are getting better than our veterans and law abiding citizens. It’s disgusting.
    I’m sure the interview was interesting and worth listening to but I’m having such a reaction to the current regime that I don’t want any part of what is going on. Yes I’ll still vote and speak my mind, as unsafe as that is feeling now, but I don’t have to like the disrespect for law or the constitution. I don’t have to like our nation behaving as if it weren’t a nation with borders. It’s impractical to do business here now. Criminal are allowed to rob with near total impunity. We complain folks don’t want to work but that attitude seems to be the aim of government today. Gimme, gimme, gimme is the new acceptable norm. All you have to do is vote to keep sugar daddy in power. Real prosperity and the American dream- be damned.
    Interviews that present truths are good and far too rare but we need change.

  • Even Putin agreed it was a softball interview. He has no respect for Tucker and neither do I. Can’t say for sure if Tucker is a traitor or not but he certainly seems to be Putin’s patsy. As for Tucker’s misleading video about grocery prices in Russia, he somehow forgot to say how very much lower typical salaries are in Russia than in the U.S. Tucker a serious journalist? Nope – more like a Russian propagandist.

  • Of course the US hegemony has interfered in Ukrainian and other politics, by assassination, coup, insurrection baiting, sanctions, etc; setting up and taking down at will those who do and do not comply! To think otherwise is to ignore the facts. Why? To keep Western economies afloat in spite of over a century of central banking that has decimated those economies. I swear, the only thing keeping the economy going at all is the gigantic, horrific war industry. To pull the plug on that will spell the end.
    And a time for rebuilding as we here might be able to do.

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