From LifeSiteNews

By Patrick Delaney

‘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 because we are Americans too,’ the popular journalist said. ‘Freedom of speech is our birthright.’

Tucker Carlson announced a forthcoming interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, stating his purpose is to fulfill his duty as a journalist and counteract dishonest reporting from “corrupt” Western media that “lie[s] to their readers and viewers … mostly be omission.”

The former Fox News flagship host released the announcement on Tuesday from his new Tucker Carlson Network and on his X account (formerly named Twitter). He emphasized the monumental ramifications of the war in Ukraine and the corresponding ignorance of the American people about how it will affect them and even “define the lives of our grandchildren.”

Why I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/hqvXUZqvHX

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 6, 2024

Lamenting the “hundreds of thousands of people dead” from the war, including “an entire generation of young Ukrainians,” Carlson said “the long-term effects are even more profound. This war has utterly reshaped the global military and trade alliances,” as have the sanctions that have been imposed from the U.S. across the world.

“In total, they have upended the world economy. The post-World War II economic order, the system that guaranteed prosperity in the West for more than 80 years, is coming apart very fast, and along with it, the dominance of the U.S. dollar,” he warned.

Most the world understands these “history-altering developments” and “yet the populations of the English-speaking countries seem mostly unaware. They think that nothing has really changed … because no one has told them the truth.”

According to the Russian Sputnik English language news service that interviewed allegedly ordinary Russians on the streets in Moscow, they are delighted Carlson has come to Moscow and will be speaking with their president because of his fair and balanced reporting. It is surprising how familiar they are with him and how articulate they are in what they have to say on the topic.

Providing an example of corruption in the media, Carlson went on to consider the “scores of interviews with Ukrainian President Zelensky” in the west describing them as “fawning pep sessions, specifically designed to amplify Zelensky’s demand that the U.S. enter more deeply into a war in Eastern Europe and pay for it.”

“That is not journalism. It is government propaganda, propaganda of the ugliest kind, the kind that kills people,” he said.

By contrast, “the president of the other country involved in this conflict, Vladimir Putin,” has not been interviewed in the West, Carlson observed.

“Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine, or what his goals are now,” he said. “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 because we are Americans too. Freedom of speech is our birthright. We were born with the right to say what we believe. That right cannot be taken away no matter who is in the White House. But they’re trying anyway.”

He went on to describe how the Biden administration illegally accessed his text messages three years ago and then leaked them to the press in an effort to thwart a planned interview with Putin at the time and charged them with doing the same again recently.

While billionaire X owner Elon Musk has promised to allow the Putin interview to remain on his platform, Carlson warned 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.”

Reactions: EU may sanction Carlson, ‘traitor;’ MTG: ‘what REAL journalism looks like’

Perhaps the first sortie to come in this effort happened when a member of the European Union (EU) Parliament proposed placing sanctions on Carlson, including a “travel ban” and submitting him to further investigation.

Newsweek reported Wednesday that former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, who is now serving in the EU legislative body, said that since the Russian president is considered a “war criminal, and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service” should investigate Carlson.

But many conservatives in the United States have come to the popular commentator’s defense in this regard.

Fellow internet political pundit Candace Owens posted on X that such consideration by the EU official “is little more than an admission that they have been lying about everything regarding Ukraine. The narrative is about to fully collapse & they are terrified. God bless Tucker & free speech.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on X, “This is what REAL journalism looks like from @TuckerCarlson. And @elonmusk is protecting free speech and free press on this platform by allowing Tucker to interview Vladimir Putin.”

Knowing Carlson was in Moscow over the weekend, however, neoconservative Bill Kristol suggested the highest-rated cable host in history be prevented from returning to the U.S. “Perhaps we need a total and complete shutdown of Tucker Carlson re-entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,” he posted on X.

Additionally, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who with Liz Cheney of Wyoming was one of only two Republicans to serve on Nancy Pelosi’s House select committee to investigate the January 6, 2021 disturbance at the U.S. Capitol, called Carlson a “traitor” and posted a poll on X asking his followers to choose whether they believe the popular analyst is “on Putin’s payroll” or if “he just LOVES him.”

In Carlson’s Tuesday announcement, he seemed to respond, “We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We are here because we love the United States, and we want it to remain prosperous and free.”

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