Russian media has published photos which appear to show Tucker Carlson in Moscow amid claims he is set to interview Vladimir Putin.
The former Fox News host, 54, reportedly arrived in the capital on February 1 and was spotted at a Spartacus performance in Bolshoi Theatre.
Images shared of Carlson in Moscow have sparked rumors of an upcoming interview with Putin.
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has defended the prospect of Carlson interviewing Putin and hit out at those criticizing him.
‘We have a free press in this country and its people like Tucker Carlson who we depend on to speak the truth,’ she wrote on X on Saturday.
Images of Carlson shared by Russian media led to many believing he could be the first Western journalist to interview Putin since the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘Democrats and their propagandists in the media are spasming at the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin,’ politician Greene said.
‘They feel entitled to the position of gatekeeper and believe they are the ones who tell you what to think and believe.
‘They HATE when someone like Tucker goes “off script”.’
Carlson reportedly arrived in Moscow on February 1 after flying in from Istanbul and it is his first time in the country.
The former news anchor, who has defended Putin in the past, claimed he previously tried to interview the Russian president last year but that he was stopped by the US government.
He has opposed America’s support for Ukraine and suggested that the West is to blame for the invasion.
His show Tucker Carlson Tonight was once the most viewed cable news show in the US before it was taken off-air in April 2023.
Carlson has now started his own show X where he has interviewed Hungarian prime minister Victor Orban and controversial figure Andrew Tate.
The first rumors about a potential interview with Putin first surfaced in the summer as Russian state television ran adverts of Carlson saying ‘Russia, the high-profile American presenter is moving to another level. Here.’
Russia 1 channel anchor Vladimir Solovyov pleaded with Carlson to ‘come join us’ after his abrupt departure from Fox News.
While Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said in September that the ‘time will come’ for a Western media interview with the Russian president.
He added: ‘Whether Carlson will be among those who will be considered for an interview, well, let’s wait and see.’
Bill Kristol, former chief of staff to the vice president of the United States in the Reagan administration, suggested that Carlson be temporarily banned from reentering the US.
‘Perhaps we need a total and complete shutdown of Tucker Carlson re-entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on,’ he said.
DailyMail.com has contacted Tucker Carlson for comment.
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