No, Tucker Carlson is NOT 'Putin's mouthpiece'

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Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com on February 08, 2024, hours prior to the debut of Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin.

European lawmakers are calling for a travel ban on Tucker Carlson. After Tucker posted a video on X announcing he was in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former prime minister of Belgium said the European Union should consider imposing a travel ban on Tucker for serving as a “mouthpiece” for Putin.

They will always find a reason to vilify Tucker because he is one of the few, rare individuals with the courage to question the mainstream narrative.

Who doesn’t love freedom of speech and the press? EU bureaucrats obviously don’t.

This is the critical point: This donnybrook of criticism over Tucker’s interview with Putin has no base because the interview hasn't even debuted yet. They don't even know the questions Carlson asked Putin. But does it even matter what the questions are? For these people, no, it doesn’t. They will always find a reason to vilify Tucker because he is one of the few, rare individuals with the courage to question the mainstream narrative. That’s why he is the incredible journalist that he is.

How about you and me? Does it matter what questions Tucker asks Putin? Of course it does. I am hopeful he will ask some tough questions of Putin. I believe he will. But that isn't the point. As a journalist, he has the right to interview the most consequential world leaders of our time.

Apparently, Mike Wallace and Barbara Walters get a free pass to interview Putin, but now he’s off-limits to Tucker Carlson? The hypocrisy is unbelievable.

Who cares about the truth?

To those jumping to conclusion about Tucker, calling for sanctions, calling him a traitor: You haven't heard the interview. You have no idea what he asked Putin. The First Amendment doesn’t have an agenda, and it certainly shouldn’t cave to your double standard.

To those of us who care about the truth, who want to judge the interview for ourselves after it airs, here's what I'm going to look for when I watch the interview.

The interview should not be about America’s domestic problems.

Putin is very good at propaganda. As a former KGB agent, he knows how to manipulate people. Tucker is smart enough to know this. And he knows there are people looking for an American dictator. This is how communists take over. They infiltrate the government and then activate grassroots movements to create chaos and cause all kinds of problems. They want the people in the middle to become so desperate that they say, "Somebody has got to stop this." That's when the chaos and upheaval become unbearable, and people look for a dictator just to make it stop. I am not one of them. I think this is the worst possible scenario.

Aleksandr Dugin, one of Putin’s top advisers, would be pushing Putin to talk about our immorality, our embrace of transgenderism, and our loss of faith. If you don't know who he is, listen to some of my old shows. His whole political philosophy is about using chaos to cause desperation so that a dictator can swoop in like a savior. Dugin is a very dangerous man, and he isn’t called “Putin’s brain” for nothing.

Tucker will have lost control of the interview if he allows Putin to go on about America’s immorality.

Tucker has got to keep this on the rails. The interview should not be about America’s domestic problems. We can talk about our problems all day long, but I don't want to hear about them from Vladimir Putin, and I certainly don't want to hear his solutions. Tucker should say, “We’re here to talk to you about the American involvement in this war with Ukraine, not our internal policy debates.”

Tucker will have lost control of the interview if he allows Putin to go on about America’s immorality more than once. You can let him remark on that once, and then you’ve got to say, “Mr. Putin, this is not about America. We have our own problems. But I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk to you about that. I'm here to talk to you about NATO, even the ‘American war machine’ if you want to call it that. I want to hear why you’re in Ukraine. Are you willing to look for peace? What would that look like?"

Look for Putin to spin this whole thing into transgenderism and what’s happening in our schools. If he begins to discuss those, then he is peddling propaganda. Those are our problems to discuss, not his. We know who Putin is. We know how he stops drugs on the streets. We know how he treats reporters who speak negatively about him. They tend to fall from their apartment windows. He doesn't care about our issues other than their use of serving his agenda.

Americans deserve an explanation

Tucker also said in his video that we’ve been lied to. I want to know about what. We know our problems with the war in Ukraine all too well. Let's hear solutions and what the truth is. Nobody has ever heard from Putin why the invasion happened in the first place. I want Tucker to ask him why he decided to invade at this time in particular.

There's nobody good in this on either side, Zelenskyy or Putin.

I think the reason Putin invaded Ukraine is that we refused to say “no” to NATO expansion. We made a promise that we would not allow Ukraine into NATO. We said that we wouldn't let Ukraine be overrun by Russia, but we also wouldn't let Ukraine into the alliance. It wasn’t written down, but we’re people of honor. That’s all Putin was asking for first, and that promise was violated. That’s just a fact. We went back on our promise, and now Russia has gone back on its promise. But I want to hear the real reason from Putin himself.

I also want Tucker to ask Putin to explain what he means specifically when he refers to Nazis in Ukraine. I did an entire chalkboard “Glenn TV Special” about the neo-Nazis funded by the Ukrainian government for border security. They exist, and they are really bad guys. If there is more to this story, I want to hear about it. There's nobody good in this on either side, Zelenskyy or Putin.

These are the things I’m looking for in Tucker’s interview with Putin. If he keeps the conversation on track like that, it will be a great interview. But to call Tucker “Putin's mouthpiece” before hearing the interview shows that these leftists doesn’t really care about the truth. They don’t care what Tucker — or Putin for that matter — actually says. They don’t care that Tucker is one of several Western journalists to interview Putin and one of many to interview controversial world leaders. All that they care about is their agenda — truth or Tucker Carlson be damned.

POLL: What DARK government secrets will Trump uncover?

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Will the dark secrets of the Deep State finally see the light of day? Or will they slip back into darkness, as they have many times before?

The Trump administration is gearing up to fulfill one of Trump's most anticipated campaign promises: to make the contents of the JFK files, along with other Deep State secrets, available to the public. Kash Patel, who has promised to publicize the highly anticipated files, is expected to be confirmed next week as Trump's director of the FBI. Moreover, the House Oversight Committee created a new task force headed by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna called "Task Force on Declassification of Federal Secrets," which is tasked with investigating and declassifying information on the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, UFOs, the Epstein list, COVID's origins, and 9/11. This all comes after the FBI found 2,400 "new" records relating to the assassination of President Kennedy following Trump's executive order to release the files.

Glenn discussed this topic with the cast of the Patrick Bet David podcast. Glenn expressed his confidence in Trump's radical transparency—on the condition that Kash Patel is confirmed. The cast was not as optimistic, expressing some doubt about whether Trump will actually unveil all that he has promised. But what do you think? What files are likely to see the light of day? And what files will continue to linger in the dark? Let us know in the poll below

Do you think the JFK, RFK, and MLK files will be unveiled?

Do you think the 9/11 files will be unveiled?

Do you think the COVID files will be unveiled?

Do you think the UFO files will be unveiled?

Do you think the Epstein list will be unveiled?

Transgender opera in Colombia? 10 SHOCKING ways USAID spent your tax dollars.

MANDEL NGAN / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has been doing what with our tax money!?

Under the determined eye of Elon Musk, DOGE has rooted out the corruption that permeates USAID, and it turns out that it's worse than we thought. Glenn recently read a list of atrocious causes that were funded by USAID, and the list was as long as it was shocking.

Since the January consumer index report was published today, one thing is clear: eggs are bearing the brunt of inflation. That's why we illustrated the extent of USAID's wasteful spending of YOUR taxpayer dollars by comparing it to the price of eggs. How many eggs could the American people have bought with their tax dollars that were given to a "transgender opera" in Colombia or indoctrinating Sri Lankans with woke gender ideology? The truth will shock you:

1. A “transgender opera” in Colombia

USAID spent $47,000 on a transgender opera in Colombia. That's over 135,000 eggs.

2. Sex changes and "LGBT activism" in Guatemala

$2 million was spent funding sex changes along with whatever "LGBT activism" means. That equates to over 5.7 million eggs!

3. Teaching Sri Lankan journalists how to avoid binary-gendered language

USAID forked over $7.9 million to combat the "gender binary" in Sri Lankan journalism. That could have bought nearly 23 million eggs.

4. Tourism in Egypt

$6 million (or just over 17 million eggs) was spent to fund tourism in Egypt. If only someone had thought to build some impressive landmarks...

5. A new "Sesame Street" show in Iraq

USAID spent $20 million to create a new Sesame Street show in Iraq. That's just short of 58 million eggs...

6. Helping the BBC value the diversity of Libyan society

$2.1 million was sent to the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) to help them value the diversity of Libyan society (whatever that means). That could have bought over 6 million eggs.

7. Meals for a terrorist group linked to Al-Qaeda

$10 million worth of USAID-funded meals went to an Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group. That comes up to be just shy of 29 million eggs.

8. Promoting inclusion in Vietnam 

A combined $19.3 million was sent to two separate inclusion groups in Vietnam inclusion groups in Vietnam (why where they separated? Not very inclusive of them). That's over 55 million eggs.

9. Promoting DEI in Serbia's workplaces

USAID sent $1.5 million (4.3 million eggs) to “advance diversity equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”

10. Funding EcoHealth Alliance, tied to the Wuhan Institute of Virology's "bat research"

EcoHealth Alliance, one of the key NGOs that funded the Wuhan lab's bat virus research, received $5 million from USAID, which is equivalent to 14.5 million eggs.

The bottom line...

So, how much damage was done?

In total, approximately $73.8 million was wasted on the items on this list. That comes out to be 213 million eggs. Keep in mind that these are just the items on this list, there are many, many more that DOGE has uncovered and will uncover in the coming days. Case in point: that's a lot of eggs.

POLL: Should Trump stop producing pennies?

SAUL LOEB / Contributor, Chip Somodevilla / Staff | Getty Images

On Sunday, February 9th, President Trump ordered the U.S. Mint to halt the production of pennies. It costs the mint three cents to produce every penny, which Trump deemed wasteful. However, critics argue that axing the pennies will be compensated by ramping up nickel production, which costs 13 cents per coin.

In other news, President Trump promised on Truth Social that he would be reversing a Biden-era policy that mandated the use of paper straws throughout the federal government. From potentially slashing entire agencies to saying farewell to pennies and paper straws, Trump is hounding after wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars.

But what do you think? Was Trump right to put an end to pennies? And should plastic straws make a comeback? Let us know in the poll below:

Should Trump stop the production of pennies? 

Do you agree with Trump's reversal of the plastic straw ban?

Was this the most PATRIOTIC Super Bowl yet?

CHANDAN KHANNA / Contributor | Getty Images

The 2025 Super Bowl demonstrated Trump’s vision of a new America.

On Sunday, February 9th, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the biggest sporting event of the year. But this wasn't just a victory for Eagles fans. For those watching, it became apparent that American culture has changed, the zeitgeist has shifted, and America has become cool again. While remnants of woke culture lingered, they felt out of step next to the parade of American Flags and patriotic messaging that dominated the national event. The message was clear: America is back.

Everybody knows that the commercials are the best part of any Super Bowl, and last night's game was no exception. As Glenn has pointed out, while some of the ads still carried woke messages (like Nike's), many more captured the newly kindled patriotism felt nationwide. Here are four of the best commercials from last Sunday that make this the most patriotic Super Bowl yet:

1. Rocket: "Own the Dream"

This touching commercial by the financial services company, Rocket, states "Everyone deserves a shot at the American dream," while showing images of people returning home and building families. The ad included a cover of John Denver's iconic song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and featured an in-stadium sing-along, live from the Super Bowl.

2. Secret Service: "A History of Protection"

Donald Trump made history by being the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl, which required the efforts of hundreds of Secret Service agents to ensure his safety. The Secret Service boasted of this feat during their minute-long commercial, which lauded American values and achievements and featured iconic American imagery.

3. Brad Pitt: "Huddle Up"

The Super Bowl introduction celebrated snapshots of American achievement accompanied with a powerful commentary about unity narrated by Brad Pitt. The message is clear: Americans can achieve great things when we work together. The ad conjures up American ideals such as hard work, ingenuity, self-sacrifice, and teamwork.

4. Jeep: "Big Game"

Movie star Harrison Ford appeared in Jeep's Super Bowl commercial to promote freedom and to remind us that "freedom isn't free." Ford treks through the mountains while ruminating on what freedom means in America and the opportunities and responsibilities that come with it.