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It could have been interesting. But interviewer Carlson was completely overwhelmed. And Putin gave a quixotic historical monologue. It’s best to just ignore the interview, he says Demian from the east.
It could have been a win-win situation for both: a US presenter with a penchant for conspiracy theories who was kicked out of his television station is looking for reach – a Russian president isolated from the Western world wants to speak to the world. But the more than two-hour video could be summarized more under the motto “Putin’s historical presentation with keywords.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin comes across as a manipulative history nerd, Tucker Carlson as an overwhelmed and ignorant cue-giver. It’s a wasted opportunity for both sides.
Naive questioning from a hopelessly overwhelmed interviewer
In his naive questioning with sometimes far-fetched questions about God and Orthodoxy in Russia, Carlson exposes himself as a dubious interviewer. Carlson is hopelessly overwhelmed by Putin’s lengthy historical digression. Putin’s half-truths and distorted narratives simply remain as they are, without classification and without contradiction.
Carlson sometimes seems as if he doesn’t even know what’s happening to him. His dubious reputation means that the interview cannot be taken seriously, at least in Europe. Contrary to the facts, he claims in an accompanying video that no Western journalist makes an effort to talk to Putin. This is demonstrably not true. Even the Kremlin had to admit this. It should still get range – but at what price?
Putin’s History monologue might be more of a deterrent
But Putin has also made little use of the opportunity to place embassies in the West. His almost hour-long historical monologue may deter many users from continuing to watch the video until the end. Who wants to delve into the medieval history of Ukraine in detail?
Putin seems like an unworldly leader who has lost his way in his historical narrative – with no interest in the well-being of the people in Ukraine and Russia. Once again it becomes clear that Putin is only interested in a historical mission.
It’s best to just ignore it
His messages are not new: Gas could flow to Germany again, but Germany doesn’t want that. The war could end within weeks if the West stops supplying weapons. Russia just wants to end a war that Ukraine started. All sentences where a knowledgeable moderator would have intervened. But Carlson just sat there and marveled.
It would have been good for Carlson to prepare better for the interview and not simply leave out critical questions about war crimes, bombed cities, hundreds of thousands of deaths, fallen Russian soldiers or economic sanctions. In his opinion, Putin would have done well not to use the interview as a pseudo history lesson, as he has so often done before. No new impulses came from the Russian president. You have to put a big question mark on all of his statements anyway.
Over two hours of interview, which is an imposition for the normal viewer and yet doesn’t bring anything new. The best thing to do is just ignore it.
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