Oliver Darcy writes:

It’s evident now why Vladimir Putin granted an interview to Tucker Carlson.

Over the course of the more than two-hour sit-down, the former Fox News host turned online commentator largely refrained from challenging the Russian authoritarian, whose brutal war on Ukraine has led to the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. Those expecting a hard-hitting face-off will have surely walked away sorely disappointed by the long-winded and rambling interview, in which Tucker himself at times appeared lost.

Instead of pressing Putin on the many topics at hand, including credible accusations Russia has committed war crimes and the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Carlson allowed the autocrat a free lane to manipulate the public and tell his version of history, no matter how deceptive it may have been. At times, between the airing of grievances, Putin appeared to school Carlson on historical events as the host looked on in bewilderment. Or to put it more plainly, Carlson provided Putin a platform to spread his propaganda to a global audience with little to no scrutiny of his claims.

“What you see from watching the first 45 minutes of this, is that this is President Putin’s platform,” Clarissa Ward, CNN’s chief international correspondent, remarked, adding that it was “clear from the very beginning” of the interview that Carlson did “not have control.” [Continue reading…]

Member of the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt tweets:

Carlson interview is the best thing that ever happened to Putin.

America tomorrow will suffer from having him spreading lies unchallenged and unfiltered.

This is how democracies die… pic.twitter.com/nbrlkZUbnV

— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) February 9, 2024