Tucker Carlson to Interview Controversial Figure Vladimir Putin, Chat Will Air Live and Unedited Online for Free

Political commentator Tucker Carlson announced he'll be interviewing Vladimir Putin. The former Fox News star made the shocking announcement via social media on Tuesday, February 6.

"There are risks to conducting an interview like this, obviously, so we thought about it carefully over many months," he shared in a social media video of why he's going through with the chat.

"Since the day the war in Ukraine began, American media outlets have spoken to scores of people from Ukraine, and they have done scores of interviews with Ukrainian president Zelensky. We ourselves have put in a request for an interview with Zelensky," Carlson said in his video posted to X, the platform formerly named Twitter. "We hope he accepts, but the interviews he’s already done in the United States are not traditional interviews, they are fawning pep sessions."

"Not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict: Vladimir Putin," added the news anchor. "Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now — you’ve never heard his voice. That’s wrong. Americans have a right to know all they can about a war they’re implicated in and we have the right to tell them about it."

Carlson emphasized the chat isn't being conducted on any political party's behalf.

"We paid for this trip ourselves," the father-of-four insisted. "We took no money from any government or group, nor are we charging people to see the interview, it is not behind a paywall. Anyone can watch the entire thing shot live to tape and unedited on our website Tuckercarlson.com."

He also gave a shout-out out to X owner Elon Musk, noting he's "promised not to suppress or block this interview once we post it on his platform X and we’re grateful for that."

"Western governments, by contrast, will certainly do their best to censor this video on other less principled platforms because that’s what they do. They are afraid of information they can’t control. But you have no reason to be afraid of it," he claimed.

"We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview, but we are urging you to watch it," Carlson concluded his clip. "You should know as much as you can, and then like a free citizen and not a slave, you can decide for yourself."

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The chat will mark Putin's first interview with an American journalist in three years.