OUTFRONT tonight, Russia is hiring as a top Putin mouthpiece
offers Tucker Carlson a job with Russian state television.
The most senior Russian official to visit the United States
since Putin invaded Ukraine.
You heard me there today said this unprompted
holds nothing other than perhaps it would be useful to consider
how things are with freedom of speech in the United States.
I've heard that Tucker Carlson has left Fox News.
It's curious news.
What is this related to? One can only guess.
But clearly, the wealth of views in the American information
space has suffered as a result of
That's the foreign minister for Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov.
The all that's going on here in the United States
coming here talking about the loss of Tucker Carlson.
It's unbelievable, right?
I mean, it's incredible that he would do such a thing. And weigh on this.
Why is Lavrov obsessed specifically with Tucker Carlson?
Well, you may ask, why is that because in Russia, Tucker Carlson is a star
for repeatedly being pro-Russian, anti-American and anti Ukraine.
Listen to this.
Might be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious.
What is this really about?
Why do I hate Putin so much?
Has Putin ever called me a racist
as he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?
Does he eat dogs?
These are fair questions.
And the answer to all of them is no.
Vladimir Putin didn't do any of that.
The Russians don't want American missiles on their border.
They don't want a hostile government next door.
Ideologues within the Biden
administration did not want a negotiated peace in Ukraine.
They wanted all along.
And it's very clear now a regime change, war against Russia
Maybe they just wanted no water, right?
Just respect the border.
So here's the thing.
Since the start of the war, Russia's state media has been using things like that.
Tucker Carlson, to prove and to bolster their points.
The two, frankly, have been in lockstep on their spin.
Watch this
if there is any single
American who deserves scorn and, yes, blame for the invasion of Ukraine.
It would be Joe Biden. That's the time right now.
We need to introduce a new term.
Biden's war equipment.
Why not Biden?
It's Biden's war. He's in charge.
Should the word for word.
And look at this from reporter Julia Davis.
She does incredible work monitoring Russian propaganda.
She points out.
Look at this here.
This is these are different pictures from Russian state television.
Julius found all of these.
Tucker Carlson in every one of them at the center
of Russian state television is messaging again and again and again.
I mean, look at these images of Carlson's face up on the big screen.
In their studios in Moscow
while the host fallen over Carson's rhetoric about Russia and Ukraine,
which is why the highest ranking Russian official
to come to the United States since the war began.
The foreign minister is seizing
on the fact that Tucker Carlson no longer has a megaphone,
or at least for now, they're offering him a job.
What's even more offensive than Lavrov
portraying Carlson as a symbol of freedom of speech,
though, is his government's treatment of Putin critics and journalists,
including The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Miscovich.
Today, our Matthew Chance was there with Lavrov and pressed him
on a possible prisoner swap for Americans Gorse Kasich, as well as Paul Wheeling,
U.S. Americans.
You could ask them
in the Russian Federation, there are several
American citizens who are serving sentences for various crimes.
I refer to Paul Whelan and Evan Gerst, which they were detained
when they were committing a crime, receiving material
that was a state secret.
And the vociferous, pathos laced statements
about journalists, by definition, and not being able to commit crimes
is something which we reject disorders.
All right.
Matthew Chance was the one who asked that question of the foreign minister.
You know him, of course, who spent so much time in Moscow
as well as Ukraine during this war.
And he's with me here.
And Matthew, I want to ask you about that exchange
that you had with Lavrov, because it just isn't true anymore
that anyone even gets to ask him questions.
Writes, is a very rare opportunity.
But first, Tucker Carlson,
he brings up Foreign Minister Lavrov brings up Tucker Carlson.
And you have spent so much time there in Moscow.
You know that state media there obviously is long lauded Carlson.
Right. He's been valuable to them.
What did you make of Lavrov bringing this up today?
Well, I think it underlines just how valuable that is to them
and how much of a sort of voice he is on Russian state media.
We saw there from the reporting that we've just, you know, featured.
He is a regular feature of Russian state television newscasts
and Russian anchors use his views, which are often, you know, quite extreme
in some cases as the views of reasonable America.
The reasonable West.
And I think one of the reasons that Lavrov is so upset
that Tucker Carlson is no longer on the on the air
at the moment, at least, is he's such a disrupter as well.
And the Russians, you know, they back disrupters.
They want to disrupt themselves.
And so this is a you know, he was doing a lot of the work.
The Kremlin media would have would have loved to have done.
And so absolutely.
To tell Russians, oh, it's this is being said in America
that all of a sudden it gives you bolsters that.
Now, let me ask you about the exchange that you had with Lavrov
because this is crucial. We've heard nothing from them.
They never talk about
what they would be willing to do, whether it be for Paul Whalen or Evan
Miscovich among the Americans who are imprisoned there right now.
You asked Lavrov if a prisoner exchange was possible.
What did he tell you?
Well, look, I mean, there have been prisoner exchanges in the in the past.
In the recent past,
Brittney Griner was absolutely a prominent Russian basically here.
And so that's the expectation.
The trouble is with Victor Boost, the most high profile of Russians
that was in a Russian US jail already swapped.
One of the problems that Ivan Gersh Kovic and Paul Williams got is, well,
who is who can they be swapped with? Right.
And we struggle to answer this.
And so Sergei Lavrov, I asked him this question,
what does he want in exchange for these two American citizens?
Listen to what he had to say.
60. This titular we have approximately 60 people
who are serving sentences here, which is your solution.
And in most cases, the accusations are dubious
So 60 people I've not heard that number four.
I mean, that was you don't just put out a number by accident.
You're him, right?
He was prepared with the number he was and and so clearly they have the idea
that if there's going to be a prisoner swap, it is going to be these two people.
60 to two.
Well, I mean, let a chunk of people a big group of people
put what they've got left or right.
Well, pretty amazing.
And obviously he came right.
That that was he was going to ask that answer that had someone to ask.
And of course, you were the one who asked.
Matthew Chance, thank you very much.
And now I want to go to Julia Davis.
I mentioned her, a Russian media analyst.
She's the
creator of the Russian Media Monitor, also a columnist for The Daily Beast.
She has been sanctioned by Russia and retired U.S.
Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, a former intelligence officer.
And Julia, you know, your work during all of this has just been incredible,
the things that you see and find and hear on Russian media
as you consume so much of what Russians are being faced with every day.
So Lavrov brings up Tucker Carlson unsolicited today.
And you've been following how the Russian propaganda
machine is weaponized Carlson and used him throughout the war.
What impact does his firing have on that machine?
Well, they
have been latched on to Tucker Carlson for years,
and it really intensified after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Lately, they have not had a single show
where Tucker Carlson segments didn't prominently figure in them.
It was constant.
And why it works for them so well
is on Russian state television.
They always blame America for everything.
They never criticize Putin or Russia, and neither does Tucker Carlson.
So everything he says, it sounds like it was written by the Kremlin.
It's perfect for them.
And they always mention that he had an enormous viewership
and the way they have been able to influence Americans
without lifting a finger.
Just through Tucker Carlson's talking points that conveniently aligned
with theirs. Yeah.
And you say conveniently aligned.
I mean, Colonel, the word echo is pretty incredible, right,
between Tucker Carlson and other Russian propagandists that we see on state media.
Let me play again this
if there is any single American
who deserves scorn and, yes, blame for the invasion of Ukraine,
it would be Joe Biden.
That's why now we need to introduce a new term, Biden's war equipment.
Why not Biden? It's Biden's war.
He's in charge of this, colonel, from a military standpoint.
How much damage do the words of Carlson do to American goals when you look at how
this is being propagated to the Russian public,
Yeah, and they are pretty considerable.
And this is a classic disinformation campaign.
So when you look at how the Russians couched this in their media,
you know, as Julia has mentioned, and it's very clear
that there are certain things that they want to achieve.
And one of those things is the division of our society.
And I found some interesting statistics on defense, one
where they talk about a poll where a great deal of people
having a great deal or not a great deal of confidence in the military.
And over the years, that number has decreased from 70%
having a great deal of conference confidence in the military down
to a low of 45% I did that was just recently.
So when you look at those kinds of things, it has an absolute effect
on people's perceptions and people's willingness to support bigger policy.