Interview disappointed

Putin expected “tougher questions” from Carlson

(Bild: Sputnik)

US talk show host Tucker Carlson's interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin caused quite a stir around a week ago. Although the head of the Kremlin was able to spread his propaganda in the interview without much resistance, he was still disappointed: he would have liked much sharper questions.

The interview had provided plenty of material for discussion and criticism: it was characterized by long monologues from the Kremlin despot, Carlson rarely followed up and also seemed overwhelmed by the many historical details with which he was confronted by Putin. The interviewee himself was clearly not impressed by the journalistic competence of the former Fox News presenter either: "To be honest, I didn't enjoy it," Putin said a few days later.

Putin obviously found the interview with the US talk show host boring.(Bild: Sputnik)

Putin thought Carlson was "surprisingly patient"
"Honestly, I thought that he would behave aggressively and ask these so-called sharp questions. And I was not only ready for that, I wanted it!" Putin told Russian journalist Pavel Sarubin. The president would have welcomed this because it would have enabled him to answer "just as sharply". "He chose a different tactic. He tried to interrupt me several times, but still proved to be patient - surprisingly for a Western journalist."

Sharper questions would have given the conversation a "certain specificity", Putin added. Nevertheless, he was grateful to the journalist, as the interview had allowed the Western heads of government to "listen and watch". The fact that no direct dialog was possible with them was of course their fault, and not Putin's. 

In this bizarre post, Carlson explains how a Russian shopping cart works:

Carlson fascinated by shopping carts during visit to Russia
Carlson, on the other hand, raves about his trip to Russia. The West has a completely wrong image, he says. Moscow is "so much nicer and safer than any city in my country". The city is now cleaner, safer and more aesthetically pleasing than any city in America, says Carlson. However, he was easily impressed, as a clip from a visit to a supermarket shows: Here he was fascinated by a shopping cart in which you have to push ten roubles - see post above. "It's free, but there's an incentive to give it back," explains the US-American.

He was also impressed by Putin. Russia is a huge and very diverse empire. You couldn't run it for 24 years if you were incapable, "whether you like it or not".