‘He’s welcome here’: The Kremlin ‘wooed Tucker Carlson to Russia to spite Biden’, Russian sources claim as ex-Fox News host is seen heading to Presidential office in Moscow amid rumors he is set to interview Putin

The Kremlin ‘wooed’ former Fox News star Tucker Carlson to Russia to ‘spite Biden,’ according to a new report. 

Carlson has been pictured and recorded in Moscow this week as rumors abound that he’s there in order to become the first Western media figure to interview Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine began. 

The Moscow Times now reports that Putin’s administration engineered the meeting as part of a ‘propaganda coup’ against the US. A potential interview has already been endorsed by fringe presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

Carlson, 54, was regularly accused of covering pro-Russia talking points on his Fox News show. Since his acrimonious firing, Carlson has interviewed a range of figures on his new broadcast on X including Russell Brand, Andrew Tate and Ice Cube. 

‘Tucker has been expected here for a long time. He is welcome here. Now everyone in the presidential administration has rolled up their sleeves and is working together,’ an unnamed source told Moscow Times. 

Meanwhile on X, Russian media figure Alexei Venediktov wrote: ‘As far as I understand, Tucker Carlson got what he wanted.’

A picture of Carlson appears to show him at a Spartacus performance at the Bolshoi Theatre

Images of Carlson shared by Russian media led to many believing he could be the first Western journalist to interview Putin since the country¿s invasion of Ukraine

Images of Carlson shared by Russian media led to many believing he could be the first Western journalist to interview Putin since the country’s invasion of Ukraine

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (center), 54, was spotted in the Russian capital at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre, according to media in Russia

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (center), 54, was spotted in the Russian capital at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre, according to media in Russia

On X, Russian media figure Alexei Venediktov wrote: 'As far as I understand, Tucker Carlson got what he wanted

On X, Russian media figure Alexei Venediktov wrote: ‘As far as I understand, Tucker Carlson got what he wanted

‘Even without an interview, Carlson’s arrival is already a major benefit for the boss [Putin]. Look at what kind of reaction we’re already seeing “across the ocean.” Tucker has a huge audience in the U.S,’ another source told the Moscow Times. 

As another joked that Carlson’s options in Russia were ‘an interview or [going to] the frontline Donbas.’ 

In September, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the time for Putin to be interviewed by a western journalist ‘will come.’ 

‘Whether Carlson will be among those who will be considered for an interview, well, let’s wait and see,’ he added. 

‘The chief [Putin] will win the election without Tucker’s help. ut access to an American audience through Carlson during the heated struggle between Biden and Trump is again an opportunity to exert that proverbial influence on the U.S. election, given Carlson’s huge audience,’ a Kremlin official told The Moscow Times.

Carlson kept his cards close to the chest on Monday, after Russian media showed pictures of him at several spots around Moscow, including at a box at the Bolshoi Theatre and eating at a hotel.

‘It is beautiful,’ Carlson said of Moscow in an interview aired by the Izvestia newspaper. ‘I just wanted to see it because, you know, I have read so much about it but I have never seen it before.’

When asked if he was in Moscow to interview Putin, Carlson said: ‘We’ll see’ and smiled. 

The-one time MSNBC host, 54, reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre.

Back in 2021, Carlson claimed the National Security Agency began ‘spying’ on him after he said he was trying to interview Putin.

Carlson said that his communications were intercepted by the NSA, and that his identity – which should by law have been kept a secret – was ‘unmasked’ by senior intelligence officials. Carlson claimed that the content of his emails and texts was then disseminated, in a bid to discredit him.

His claims have not been confirmed. 

The Kremlin has also refused to confirm it Putin would be sitting down with the American podcaster.

In a statement, it said: ‘We can hardly be expected to provide information on the movement of foreign journalists… Many foreign journalists come to Russia every day, many continue to work here, and we welcome this,.

‘We have nothing to announce in terms of the president’s interviews to foreign media.’

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk