Tucker Carlson slammed after claiming potential arrest by US gov for 'softball' Putin interview

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Tucker Carlson claimed that some expensive legal professionals warned him that if he flew to Russia to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin, he would be detained.

The conservative political commentator covered a wide range of subjects in a three-hour podcast with Lex Fridman, including his contentious interaction with Putin earlier this month.

While Carlson questioned Putin on various topics, such as the unjustified detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, his interview faced extensive criticism and was labeled as "softball" by critics, including Putin himself.

MediaITE reported that Carlson was also mocked for praising Russia's supermarkets and subway system. The former Fox News host described a visit to the grocery store in Russia as "radicalizing."

What did Tucker Carlson say on Lex Fridman’s podcast?

Carlson told host Fridman, “My lawyers before I left, and these are people who work for a big law firm, this is not Bob’s Law Firm, this is one of the biggest law firms in the world, said you’re going to get arrested if you do this, by the US government on sanctions violations.”

The 54-year-old American media personality, who has only recently established his own media organization, Tucker Carlson Network, mentioned that these attorneys had to be paid "thousands of dollars" to have multiple experts and academics offer their perspectives to back them on their assertions.

Regarding the counsel he had received based on memos, Carlson stated, "Their sincere conclusion was 'do not do this.'"

Additionally, Carlson mentioned that a lawyer had advised him that if the interview was too "softball," he could potentially face imprisonment.

“He said, ‘Look, a lot will depend on the questions that you ask Putin. If you’re seen as too nice to him, you could get arrested when you come back,'” Carlson claimed.

Carlson declared that he had been more than ready for such a confrontation. “I said, well I don’t recognize the legitimacy of that actually because I’m American and I’ve been here my whole life and that’s so outrageous that I’m happy to face that risk because I so reject the premise,” Carlson asserted.

Shortly after his interview with Putin, detained Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny died in a Russian prison.

The official reason for death was listed as natural causes, but President Joe Biden and other critics have blamed Putin for the outspoken dissident's passing.

Navalny had returned to Russia in 2021 following an attempt on his life through poisoning.

President Putin expressed his disappointment with the Carlson interview, suggesting he had anticipated the right-wing commentator would “be more aggressive.”

“I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask so-called sharp questions. And I wasn’t just ready for that, I wanted it because it would have given me the opportunity to respond sharply in kind,” Putin explained to the Russian media outlets. “But he chose a different tactic.”

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, whose nation is fending off an invasion by Russian forces, called Carlson's interview "two hours of bulls**t."

Internet slams Tucker Carlson for claiming he was risking imprisonment by US forces for Putin interview

Critics on X heavily criticized the former Fox News host for suggesting that he would have been detained if the Putin interview had been considered "softball" by the current administration.

One X user remarked: "Things that never happened."

Another user quipped: "And yet here he is, blathering on and on."

A user wrote: "After the Putin interview bombed... Tucker defaulted to making up stupid s**t."

One more user said, "And if you believe that, congratulations! You are an idiot. In fact, if you believe anything either Tucker or Putin says you are the con-men's mark. FFS Tucker's own lawyers say in court that no intelligent person would believe a word he says. And Putin ALWAYS lies."

Another X user claimed, "Tucker only says these things to get attention. He lies like trump." [sic]

A user also tweeted, "Well he did give a softball interview and wasn’t arrested. So I call BS."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.