Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host and outspoken defender of Vladimir Putin, has sparked controversy with his latest video from Moscow, where he is reportedly preparing to interview the Russian president.
In the video, Carlson claims that he was “radicalized” by visiting a grocery store in Moscow and finding low prices and abundant food, despite the US sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“We’ve been told sanctions on Russia have had a devastating effect on its economy. We visited a grocery store in Moscow and found a very different situation,” Carlson says in the video, which he posted on his X account (formerly known as Twitter).
He shows his grocery basket, which he says contains enough food for a week, and reveals that it cost him only $104. He compares this to the average cost of groceries in America in 2023, which was $415.53 a month per person. He then asks: “How can this be? How can a country under siege from the West have cheaper and better food than we do?”
Carlson’s video has drawn criticism from many sources, including Ukrainian officials, American journalists, and Russian opposition activists.
Carlson’s video has also raised questions about his motives and agenda for visiting Moscow and interviewing Putin. Carlson has been a vocal supporter of Putin and a critic of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he has called a “dictator” and a “puppet” of the US.
Carlson’s video from Moscow has sparked a heated debate on social media, with some users praising him for exposing the “lies” of the US government and media, and others accusing him of being a “traitor”, a “propagandist”, or a “useful idiot” for Putin.
Carlson has not responded to the criticism, but has promised to reveal more of his findings and impressions from Moscow in his upcoming interview with Putin.
