Tucker Carlson has responded to challenges for not grilling Vladimir Putin enough in his controversial interview by saying ‘leadership requires killing people’.
The former Fox News presenter interviewed the Russian president on February 6.
But the interview has been blasted as ‘soft’ with even Vladimir Putin saying he was disappointed by Mr Carlson’s questions.
Just a few days before it was announced that Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny was dead, Mr Carlson defended his interview.
Appearing at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Monday, February 12, he was interviewed by Egyptian journalist Emad El Din Adeeb.
The former Fox News presenter interviewed the Russian president on February 6
Egyptian journalist Emad El Din Adeeb (left) interviewing Mr Carlson at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Monday, February 12
Mr Adeeb said: ‘You should challenge in the roles of an interview, and you’re a master in your business.
‘It’s not for me to give you a lecture about that, but you should challenge some ideas.
‘For instance, you didn’t talk about freedom of speech in Russia, you did not talk about Alexei Navalny, about assassinations, about restrictions on opposition in the coming elections.’
Mr Carlson replied: ‘I didn’t talk about the things that every other American media outlet talks about.
‘Because those are covered and because I have spent my life talking to people who run countries in various countries and have concluded the following: that every leader kills people, including my leader.
‘Every leader kills people, some kill more than others.
‘Leadership requires killing people, sorry, that’s why I wouldn’t want to be a leader.
‘That press restriction is universal in the United States, I know because I’ve lived it. Ask my former – I’ve had a lot of jobs.
‘And I’ve done this for 34 years and I know how it works and there’s more censorship in Russia than there is in the United States but there is a great deal in the United States.
‘And so at a certain point, it’s like people can decide whether they think, what countries they think are better, what systems they think are better. I just want to know what he thinks, that was the whole point.’
‘Leadership requires killing people, sorry, that’s why I wouldn’t want to be a leader,’ said Mr Carlson
Tucker Carlson during his ‘soft’ interview with Vladimir Putin
Tucker Carlson in a Russian supermarket as he fawned over the low price for ‘fresh groceries’
In another bizarre video, Mr Carlson praised Russia for its low grocery store prices and fresh produce.
The media firebrand wheeled a grocery cart around a Russian superstore while marvelling at the stock as he continued his Putin PR tour earlier this week.
In a video uploaded to his social media accounts Carlson, 54, exclaimed, ‘Look at that!’ while sniffing a loaf of bread as jovial music plays.
The former presenter said the revelation moved him from feeling ‘amused to legitimately angry’ that his home country apparently charges much more for basics like food.
The video drew widespread ridicule from people online, as many pointed out the disparity between the average wage in Russia – which is the equivalent of $9,072 – or 6.5 times less than the average US salary of $59,428.
During his interview with Putin, Mr Carlson also heaped praise on Russia throughout, calling Moscow ‘so much nicer than any city in my country.’
‘I had no idea. It is so much cleaner, and safer and prettier, aesthetically, he said.
‘Its architecture, food, and services than in any city in the United States. And this is not ideological.’
Even Putin said he was disappointed by Mr Carlson’s ‘soft’ interview questions
Mr Carlson has since received a backlash over his interview, especially in the wake of opposition leader Alexei Navalny
Navalny (pictured with his wife Yulia Navalnaya) miraculously survived a suspected assassination attempt with a nerve agent in August 2020 during a flight. He was evacuated to a hospital in Germany, and the use of a Novichok nerve agent was later confirmed.
READ MORE: Inside Alexei Navalny’s four years of hell: Timeline of Russian opposition leader’s battle against Vladimir Putin from Novichok poisoning to dying in prison
But since the announcement of Russian opposition leader Mr Navalny’s death in a Russian prison, Mr Carlson has become more critical of Putin.
The former Fox News host told DailyMail.com that he was on a plane travelling from Dubai when Navalny’s death was announced.
‘I didn’t even know it happened till I saw the Daily Mail story,’ Carlson explained.
In an exclusive statement to DailyMail.com, Carlson said: ‘It’s horrifying what happened to Navalny.
‘The whole thing is barbaric and awful. No decent person would defend it.’
Russian news outlets announced Navalny’s death on Friday morning, citing the Siberian prison service where he was serving a 19-year sentence for ‘extremism’, sparking fury across the globe.
‘On February 16, 2024, in correctional colony No. 3, convict Navalny A.A. felt unwell after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness,’ said a statement from prison officials.
‘Emergency doctors confirmed the death of the convict.’.
Global leaders, including the Latvian president, have laid the blame for Navalny’s death at Putin’s feet.
Mr Carlson faced a backlash following his ‘soft’ Putin interview, especially since the death of Alexei Navalny was announced.
Meghan McCain, a former co-host of The View, said: ‘Don’t forget that Putin’s favourite useful idiot Kremlin propagandist Tucker Carlson didn’t give a s*** about Navalny’s life when asked about him a few days ago.’
Former Republican strategist Stuart Stevens said: ‘As Tucker Carlson makes clear, Trump supporters look at Russia and ask, ‘Why can’t America be Russia?’
‘They hate the America we love. They must be defeated.’