Tucker Carlson Interviews Russian President Vladimir Putin

Tucker Carlson (Right bias) released an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, marking the President’s first interview with a Western journalist since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Details: In just over two hours, the two covered many topics, such as the history of Russia, NATO expansion, the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk, and imprisoned Wall Street Journal (Center bias) reporter Evan Gershkovich. The interview, which took place on February 6, aired on the former Fox News (Right bias) journalist’s website, Tucker Carlson Network, and is free to watch without a subscription.

For Context: Previously, the most recent notable long-form video interviews between mainstream American networks and Putin were with Keir Simmons of NBC News (Lean Left bias) and Hadley Gamble of CNBC (Center bias) in June and October 2021, respectively.

Key Quotes: Putin said to Carlson, "You cannot prevent the sun from rising. You have to adapt to it. Your political establishment does not understand that the world is changing under objective circumstances." Of Gershkovich, he said, it "does not make any sense to keep him in prison in Russia… U.S. special services to think about how they can contribute to achieving the goals our special services are pursuing."

How The Media Covered It: The interview was covered widely across the spectrum, with most outlets publishing several pieces of coverage from different angles.