The American press corps will eventually come to terms with the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin granted an interview to independent media host Tucker Carlson, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said. However, the initial reactions of some journalists may be attributed to “professional jealousy,” he added.
Carlson published the two-hour interview with Putin on Thursday, becoming the first American to have a sit-down with the Russian leader since the Ukraine conflict escalated into open hostilities in February 2022. During a press briefing on Friday, Peskov was asked to comment on what one reporter described as “hysterics” and “panic” in the US.
“There are certain divisions along the political lines and serious corporate divisions in the media. The confrontations over who supports which of the two parties are quite strong. So there is a sort of professional jealousy,” Peskov said. “But in time there will be a deep analysis of this interview… The high interest is unquestionable.”
Peskov confirmed that the interview was free-flow and that Carlson did not ask pre-approved questions. He declined to say what the president’s impression of his interviewer was.
Carlson has faced much criticism over his visit to Moscow, both ideological and professional. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour rejected his claims that no other American journalist has bothered to ask Putin about Russia’s position on the Ukraine conflict. The Kremlin also previously stated that Putin’s office has received multiple requests for interviews in the past two years.
Peskov said Carlson’s stance on Russia differs from the “one-sided position” of journalists in the Western mainstream media, and contributed to Putin’s decision to grant the interview.