Tesla CEO and X boss billionaire Elon Musk responds to calls for Tucker Carlson’s arrest. He has suggested that anyone demanding that the journalist be detained for interviewing Russian president Vladimir Putin should themselves be arrested, according to a report by RT.
Carlson has been in Moscow for at
least 4 days, sparking rumors that he planned to interview the Russian
president. He confirmed his intention in a video posted on X.
Carlson arrived in Moscow last
weekend, saying he intended to show Americans an unfiltered Russian position on
the Ukraine conflict and the broader tensions between Moscow and the West.
The former Fox News host accused
the mainstream media of failing to provide the full picture due to political
reasons, and said Musk had promised not to suppress the distribution on X
(formerly Twitter) of his planned interview with Putin.
There has been speculation about
the potential risks to Carlson in his homeland due to his trip to Russia.
Malaysia-based conservative blogger Ian Miles Cheong has suggested that he
“could become the next Julian Assange,” noting that “politicians and establishment
media shills” have been calling for Carlson’s arrest.
“Arrest those calling for his
arrest!” Musk responded in a post on X.
WikiLeaks founder Assange is
currently in a British prison, fighting a US extradition request. Washington
has indicted him with crimes related to the way whistleblower Chelsea Manning
obtained classified materials on the US military campaigns in Iraq and
Afghanistan, some of which were damning for the American government.
Supporters say Assange, who has not had full freedom since 2012, is being persecuted by the US and its allies for exposing their dirty secrets. He was jailed in 2019 after Ecuador revoked the political asylum that had allowed him to stay at the country’s embassy in London, enabling British law enforcement to arrest him.
Some public figures in the US
have accused Carlson of harboring sympathies for Putin, and of intending to
spread “Russian propaganda” by interviewing him. Even before the goal of
Carlson’s visit to Moscow was confirmed, neoconservative writer Bill Kristol
urged the US government to prevent the journalist from returning home, “until
our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
Carlson has insisted that he does
not like the Russian leader, but said it is important for the American public
to hear Putin’s views on the Ukraine conflict and the tensions between Moscow
and Washington, considering what’s at stake.
He also accused the American
government of trying to prevent him from interviewing Putin, a notion that
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed as “ridiculous.”
Read more: Tucker Carlson saysMusk will not censor his Putin interview
Read more: Tucker Carlson isinterviewing president Putin on X
