Episode Transcript
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0:05
We're
0:10
in Moscow tonight. We're here to interview
0:12
the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. We'll
0:14
be doing that soon. There
0:17
are risks to conducting an interview like
0:19
this, obviously. So we thought about
0:21
it carefully over many months. Here's why
0:23
we're doing it. First, because it's
0:26
our job. We're in journalism. Our
0:28
duty is to inform people. Two
0:31
years into a war that's reshaping the
0:33
entire world, most Americans are
0:35
not informed. They have no real idea
0:37
what's happening in this region, here
0:40
in Russia or 600 miles away in
0:42
Ukraine. But they should know. They're
0:45
paying for much of it in ways
0:47
they might not fully yet perceive. The
0:50
war in Ukraine is a human disaster. It's
0:52
left hundreds of thousands of people dead an
0:55
entire generation of young Ukrainians. Ukraine
0:58
is depopulated, the largest country in Europe.
1:01
But the long-term effects are even more profound.
1:04
This war has utterly reshaped the
1:07
global military and trade alliances. And
1:10
the sanctions that followed have as well. And
1:12
in total, they have upended the world
1:14
economy. The post-World War
1:16
II economic order, the system that guaranteed prosperity
1:19
in the West for more than 80 years,
1:22
is coming apart very fast. And along with
1:24
it, the dominance of the US dollar. These
1:27
are not small changes. They
1:29
are history-altering developments. They
1:31
will define the lives of our grandchildren. Most
1:34
of the world understands this perfectly well. They can see
1:36
it, ask anyone in Asia or the Middle East what
1:39
the future looks like. And
1:41
yet the populations of the English-speaking countries
1:43
seem mostly unaware. They
1:46
think that nothing has really changed. And they
1:48
think that because no one has told
1:50
them the truth. Their media
1:52
outlets are corrupt. They lie to their
1:55
readers and viewers. And they
1:57
do that mostly by omission. since
2:00
the day the war in Ukraine began,
2:02
American media outlets have spoken to scores
2:05
of people from Ukraine, and they have
2:07
done scores of interviews with Ukrainian President
2:09
Zelensky. We ourselves have put
2:12
in a request for an interview with Zelensky, we hope
2:14
he accepts. But the interviews he's
2:16
already done in the United States are not traditional
2:18
interviews. They are fawning
2:20
pep sessions specifically designed to
2:22
amplify Zelensky's demand that the U.S.
2:24
enter more deeply into a war in Eastern
2:27
Europe and pay for it. That
2:29
is not journalism, it is government
2:31
propaganda, propaganda of the
2:34
ugliest kind, the kind that kills people. At
2:37
the same time, our politicians and media outlets have
2:39
been doing this, promoting
2:41
a foreign leader like he's a new consumer brand,
2:43
not a single Western journalist has bothered to
2:46
interview the president of the other country involved
2:48
in this conflict, Vladimir Putin. Most
2:51
Americans have no idea why Putin invaded
2:54
Ukraine or what his goals are now. They've
2:56
never heard his voice. That's wrong.
2:59
Americans have a right to know all they can about
3:01
a war they're implicated in, and we have the
3:03
right to tell them about it because
3:05
we are Americans too. Freedom of
3:08
speech is our birthright. We were born
3:10
with the right to say what we believe. That
3:12
right cannot be taken away no matter who is
3:14
in the White House. But
3:17
they're trying anyway. Almost three
3:19
years ago, the Biden administration illegally
3:21
spied on our text messages and then leaked
3:23
the contents to their servants in the news
3:25
media. They did this in order to stop
3:27
a Putin interview that we were planning. Last
3:30
month, we're pretty certain they did exactly the same
3:32
thing once again. But this time
3:34
we came to Moscow anyway. We
3:37
are not here because we love Vladimir Putin. We
3:40
are here because we love the United States.
3:42
We want it to remain prosperous and free.
3:46
We paid for this trip ourselves. We took no money
3:48
from any government or group, nor
3:50
are we charging people to see the interview. It is not
3:52
behind a paywall. Anyone can
3:54
watch the entire thing, shot live to
3:57
tape and unedited on our website, Tucker
3:59
Carlson. Elon
4:01
Musk, his great credit, has promised not
4:03
to suppress or block this interview once
4:05
he posted on his platform X. And
4:07
we're grateful for that. Western
4:10
governments, by contrast, will certainly do
4:12
their best to censor this video
4:14
on other less principled platforms because
4:17
that's what they do. They are afraid of
4:19
information they can't control. But
4:21
you have no reason to be afraid of it. We
4:24
are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin
4:26
may say in this interview. And
4:28
we are urging you to watch it. You
4:30
should know as much as you can. And
4:33
then, like a free citizen and not a slave,
4:35
you can decide for yourself.
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