European Union (EU) politicians are threatening to sanction U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson for interviewing Vladimir Putin, despite European journalists often interviewing the Russian leader and his officials.
Guy Verhofstadt, a senior Member of the European Parliament (MEP), President of the European Movement, and former Prime Minister of Belgium, denounced Carlson as “Putin’s mouthpiece” and “an enemy of everything the U.S. stands for.”
He told Newsweek the conservative journalist could be subjected to a travel ban, explaining: “As Putin is a war criminal and the EU sanctions all who assist him in that effort, it seems logical that the External Action Service examine his case as well.”
“Carlson wants to give a platform to someone accused of crimes of genocide — this is wrong,” concurred Urmas Paet MEP, a former Estonian foreign minister.
“If Putin has something to say he needs to say it in front of the [International Criminal Court]. At the same time Carlson is not being a real journalist since he has clearly expressed his sympathy for the Russian regime and Putin and has constantly disparaged Ukraine, the victim of Russian aggression,” Paet alleged.
None of the European politicians had seen the content of Carlson’s interview with Putin, as it has yet to air.
Carlson insists that, as a journalist, it is his job to secure interviews with significant figures shaping world events if he can. He also says his team asked Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for an interview but has not received a response.
The real journalists in Russia are in jail or had to flee !
Carlson is Putin’s mouthpiece and an enemy of everything the US stands for — no more, no less.https://t.co/Nu58d6mnXD
— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) February 7, 2024
The outrage at @TuckerCarlson for interviewing the president of a country we are not at war with proves what everyone already knows
The US, NATO, are at war with Russia
Otherwise his interview would not matter in the slightest
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) February 7, 2024