Hillary Clinton has branded Tucker Carlson a “useful idiot” ahead of the release of his interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former Fox News host announced that he was in Moscow earlier this week for a sit-down with Mr Putin. The interview is set to be released at 6pm ET (11pm GMT) on Thursday.
Mr Carlson has long been a critic of the US sending aid to Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February 2022.
He has attempted to see past Mr Putin’s authoritarianism and disregard for Ukrainian and Russian lives, instead focusing his ire on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has gone from complete political novice to wartime president and internationally recognised world leader.
Ms Clinton, a former secretary of state and senator, appeared on MSNBC on Wednesday night where she weighed in on the controversy.
“Tucker Carlson is in Moscow right now interviewing Vladimir Putin,” host Alex Wagner noted in the interview with Ms Clinton.
“The first American, I’ll say ‘journalist’, to interview Putin since the war in Ukraine began. What does not tell you about Tucker Carlson and right-wing media and also Vladimir Putin?”
“Well, it shows me what I think we’ve all known. He’s what is called a useful idiot,” Ms Clinton said of Mr Carlson. “If you actually read translations of what’s being said on Russian media, they make fun of him – he’s like a puppy dog. Somehow, after having been fired from so many outlets and the United States ... I would not be surprised if he emerges with a contract with a Russian outlet because he is a useful idiot.”
She continued: “He says things that are not true. He parrots Vladimir Putin’s pack of lies about Ukraine.
“So I don’t see why Putin wouldn’t give him an interview because, through him, he can continue to lie about what his objectives are in Ukraine, and what he expects to see happen.
“It’s really quite sad that not just somebody like Tucker Carlson who has, as I said, been fired so many times because he seems unable to correlate his reporting with the truth, but also because it is a sign that there are people in this country right now who are like a fifth column from Vladimir Putin.”
Speaking about some parts of the US, Ms Clinton said: “There is a yearning for leaders who can kill and imprison their opponents, destroy the press, lead a life that is one of impunity and bound by any laws”.
“There’s a yearning among certain people in our country for that kind of leadership. And I find that absolutely gobsmacking, terrifying,” she added.