Former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson said Tuesday that he is in Moscow to interview Russia's president Vladimir Putin in an announcement that revealed a strong divide within the cryptocurrency community.
What Happened: Carlson published a 4-minute video on his X (formerly Twitter) account, explaining his rationale for traveling to Russia to be the first Western media person to interview the Russian president since the invasion of Ukraine.
The video had generated 75 million impressions at the time of writing:
Why I'm interviewing Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/hqvXUZqvHX
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 6, 2024
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed on Wednesday that Carlson had interviewed Putin but did not comment on a possible release date for the interview, according to Interfax.
Crypto bettors on prediction markets give a possible release by Friday an 89% chance, according to Polymarket.
Why It Matters: The video sparked heated discussions on social media, not least in the Bitcoin community.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously voiced pro-crypto positions, endorsed the interview, saying "we have a right to hear from everyone."
Bitcoin podcast host Peter McCormack strongly denounced the interview, calling it "bulls--t." He added that Russia was not the "other country," as stated in Carlson's video message, but the "invading country."
McCormack proceeded to call Carlson "a chat show host" instead of a journalist and said he hopes for questions about democracy in Russia, the "poisoning and imprisonment of political rivals" and press restrictions. McCormack marveled at the amount of "Putin simps" replying to his critical stance.
Ethereum advocate Adam Cochran echoed McCormack's take, saying "dozens of real journalists have been jailed, killed or exiled in their time reporting on Putin and his crimes." He predicted the interview would "parrot the Russian propaganda" and countered Carlson's claim, saying journalists from both political parties were covering the war in Ukraine with "real reporting."
Yet McCormack and Cochran seem to be the minority voices in the cryptocurrency community.
Both angered their community, which responded with comments like being "confused about the importance of censorship free, speech," having a "horrendous take" and the interview supposedly pushing back against info that is "entirely censored and controlled by the establishment."
Notably, Carlson's claim that "no Western journalist has bothered to interview" the Russian president was refuted by X's Community Notes feature and BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg. CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour also pushed back, saying her news organization has been asking "for years" for an interview.
Max Seddon, Moscow bureau chief of the Financial Times, highlighted two journalists — Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva — both of whom remain imprisoned in Russia.
What's Next: The strong reaction points to the cryptocurrency industry being intertwined with political questions. Another recent example: former President Donald Trump has previously promised to "never allow" a CBDC in the United States.
Read Next: Donald Trump Calls CBDCs 'Dangerous' And Deems AI 'A Tremendous Security Problem'
Photo via Shutterstock.
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