Alright, here’s my take on this. I think that any true journalist would and should jump on the chance to interview Putin. Tucker isn’t wrong in his intro regarding the Ukraine war’s significance. It is possible that Putin goes down in history as the man who started world war 3. In any circumstance, Putin will be viewed as an extremely significant figure and just because a figure is controversial doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be interviewed. Journalists have a long history of interviewing criminals and dictators and terrorists, etc in the name of attempting to provide context or information and understanding of those people and who they are and especially in the case of political figures, get them on record.
The issue here is that Tucker Carlson isn‘t a journalist, he’s an entertainer. He’s an entertainer with an extremely clear bias politically and there’s little question that there’s a very obvious reason why Putin would choose him to be the “journalist” he sits down with. We’ll see what comes out of it, but this likely stands to be a puff piece that heavily favors Putin’s version of events, which we already know will be replete with lies and misinformation.
While it would be very difficult (and probably dangerous) for any journalist to hold Putin’s feet to the fire in the interview setting itself and say “no you’re lying and here’s why” and challenge him directly, you’d typically see that built into the story. Presenting the subject’s words and then providing evidence for why what they’re saying rings true or untrue, and skilled journalists can certainly ask questions that challenge the subject’s narrative without being directly confrontational.
Its doubtful we’ll see even that level of push back from Tucker on this. It seems highly likely he will present present Putin’s version as the truth and nothing but, and will lean into the misinformation to make Putin’s words look stronger. I also strongly doubt there will be any questions that challenge him even gently, and I’d go so far as to bet that the questions Tucker asks have already been heavily vetted by Putin and perhaps even provided to Carlson by Putin directly.
