Russian TV Head Fawns Over ‘Wonderful’ Tucker Carlson, Publicly Encourages Putin to Agree to Interview with Fox News Host
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The head of Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today (RT) has been offering effusive praise for Tucker Carlson recently, and publicly urging Russian President Vladimir Putin to grant the Fox News host an interview, according to a new report by The Daily Beast.
Carlson has made a number of comments on his show over the past year or so that many have interpreted as overly friendly to Russia and Putin, if not outright propaganda that the Russian leader himself might have commissioned.
The highly-rated Fox News host has scoffed at such criticisms, but the fact remains that video clips from his programs are making their way onto Russian television, and getting a favorable reception.
The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis reported on this Wednesday’s episode of RT’s television program The Evening with Vladimir Soloviev, in which RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan was a guest.
According to Davis, Soloviev showed a translated video clip of Tucker Carlson Tonight in which Carlson interviewed retired Army Col. Doug MacGregor, who argued — as Carlson nodded in approval — that not only did Russia have “legitimate national security interests in Ukraine,” but he did not believe there was support around the world for sanctions against Russia “over something that most people rightly regard as a matter of national security interest to Russia.”
Simonyan gushed about Carlson, calling him “wonderful” and “the most popular host in the United States and perhaps the only one who is reasonable, has the biggest audience, who understands everything the way it should be understood.”
She mentioned that Carlson was “dreaming of interviewing Vladimir Putin, simply dreaming about it!”
“It’s not within my purview, but if anyone could make it happen, it would be amazing,” she added.
She later cited another Carlson episode in which he interviewed former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who Simonyan described as “remarkable” and lauded her comments to Carlson in opposition to Ukraine joining NATO.
The same day as Simonyan’s appearance on Soloviev’s show, RT published an op-ed praising Carlson, Gabbard, and former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein for their “anti-war” stance and opposition to Ukraine joining NATO, noted Davis.
