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The White House has told Americans to ‘not believe anything Vladimir Putin says’ during his highly anticipated interview with Tucker Carlson.
Carlson, 54, announced that he would be interviewing the Russian leader earlier this week, with the interview set to go live tonight on X at 6pm
The former Fox News firebrand, who has been a vocal opponent of US military aid for Ukraine, made the announcement after he was spotted leaving the Kremlin.
During the White House daily briefing on Thursday, Communications Coordinator John Kirby told reporters that Americans shouldn’t believe anything Putin says.
Kirby said: ‘Anybody that watches that interview you need to make sure to remember that you are listening to Vladimir Putin. You shouldn’t take at face value anything he has to say.’
Kirby also added: ‘The American people know well who is at fault here, and I think they know that there was no ground whatsoever for the invasion two years ago.
‘He invaded a neighboring country without provocation, Ukraine wasn’t a threat to anybody.
‘The American people understand that, the American people understand what Ukraine is fighting for.
‘All they’re asking for is our help, they’re not asking for boots on the ground. I don’t think the American people are going to be swayed by one interview.’
He also said: ‘We are convinced that there’s strong bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for supporting Ukraine.
‘The President believes that support for Ukraine is critical, particularly right now as Russia continues to try to hit their industrial base.
‘He’s confident that the leadership is solidly in support of Ukraine, how they are going to be effected by a television interview I couldn’t begin to guess.’
Carlson said the interview would air ‘unedited’ on his website, and on X, making him the first American to interview Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The conservative commentator said in a video: ‘Two years into a war that’s reshaping the entire world, most Americans are not informed.
‘They have no real idea what’s happening in this region. But they should know, they’re paying for much of it in ways they might not fully perceive.
‘Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in.’
He went on to call the world’s English-language media corrupt, claiming they ‘lie to their readers and viewers’ and that ‘it is his duty to inform’ the public.
Carlson repeated the unconfirmed claim that the Biden administration illegally spied on him three years ago to stop him from interviewing Putin. He then claimed the federal government ‘did the same thing once again.’
‘But this time, we came to Moscow anyway,’ he said, adding that he paid for the trip himself, ‘and did not take money from any government or group.’
‘We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States and want it to remain prosperous and free,’ Carlson claimed.
The commentator also stated that Elon Musk had ‘promised not to suppress or block this interview.’
Carlson’s access to Putin is a huge contrast with restraints on other journalists in Russia, where two US citizens – Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe’s Alsu Kurmasheva – are currently imprisoned.
His show on Fox News was also regularly criticized during its time on air for reiterating Kremlin talking points.
The show was said to be hugely popular among senior figures in the Russian government, in particular after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russian state media fueled the rumors on Monday, posting a video they claimed showed Carlson leaving the Russian Presidential Administration.
The former Fox star also kept his cards close to the chest on Monday, after Russian media showed pictures of him at several spots around Moscow.
‘It is beautiful,’ Carlson said of Moscow in an interview aired by the Izvestia newspaper.
‘I just wanted to see it because, you know, I have read so much about it but I have never seen it before.’
When asked if he was in Moscow to interview Putin, Carlson said: ‘We’ll see’ and smiled.
The-one time MSNBC host, 54, reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre.
