BUSINESS INSIDER
Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a House Freedom Caucus member, said hes seen about 30 minutes of the more than 2-hour-long interview. And while he stressed that he doesnt trust and believe in everything that the Russian leader said, he couldnt help but greet the sight with some wonder.
It was impressive, said Higgins. Putin is a studied man of resolute spirit, and he always comes across as very sincere in his beliefs. You come away from a conversation with him thinking I may not believe what he says, but I know he believes what he says.
Several Republicans told Business Insider that they didnt watch the interview, citing lack of interest or time. But Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas — who said he was too busy looking at choo-choo trains in Chicago and Milwaukee over the weekend to watch the interview, says hes having a staffer brief him on it.
I think Tucker Carlsons great. Obviously, I think it was a great opportunity, said Nehls as he lit a cigar at the top of the House steps, before offering an unsolicited prediction: that former President Donald Trump would be re-elected in November and bring a swift end to the Ukraine war by March 1, 2025.
He’ll say, Vlad, March 1st, you got to get the hell out of Ukraine, said Nehls. It’s over.
The release of the interview comes just as Congress is considering sending another $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. The Senate passed a bill to do just that on Tuesday over the objections of a group of hard-right GOP senators. The bill faces an uncertain future in the House, with Speaker Mike Johnson and many other Republicans opposed to the aid package in its current form.
Among those senators was Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who has long been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, even traveling to Kyiv for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys inauguration in May 2019. But in recent months, Johnson has seemingly become convinced that continued US support for Ukraine is a futile exercise and has dropped his support for Ukraine aid.
I think the Tucker interview was very interesting, Johnson said during a recent interview on the conservative network Real Americas Voice, stressing that while Putin is a war criminal who is obviously not telling you the whole truth, theres much to be learned from his interview with Carlson.
Take things with a grain of salt, but a lot of the points that Vladimir Putin made are accurate, said Johnson. Making people believe Ukraine can win, Ukraine cant — Putin won’t lose. Putin will not lose. He’s not going to lose.
Every nation tells stories about itself
Over the course of more than 2 hours, the Russian President covered a variety of different topics, ranging from the imprisonment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich to Russias territorial claims in Ukraine.
The Russian leader even appeared to make sly allusions to American domestic politics primed for a conservative audience, including Colorado and Maines recent decisions to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
America is a complex country. Conservative on one hand, rapidly changing on the other, said Putin, according to Carlsons translator. Who makes decisions in the elections? Is it possible to understand this when each state has its own legislation? Each state regulates itself. Someone can be excluded from elections at the state level.
