Tucker Carlson once again jumped to the defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that anyone who thinks the brutal strongman was responsible for the untimely death of his main political opponent Alexie Navalny “are idiots.”
Carlson, 54, was speaking with fellow former Fox News host Glenn Beck on the latter’s BlazeTV network when he made his comments.
‘Navalny’s death during the Munich Security Conference, amid disputes over aid to Ukraine, is definitely not beneficial for Russia. “People who say Putin killed him are idiots,” Carlson said.
Alexie Navalny died on Friday in the Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence, Russia’s prison agency said. He was 47 years old. The cause of his death has not been made public.
On Monday, Navalny’s widow, Yulia, posted a video accusing Putin of killing her husband and alleged that the refusal to hand over his body was part of a cover-up. Her widow has joined the chorus of Western leaders who have blamed Putin for the dissident’s death.
Carlson’s most recent comments are a rallying cry for his statement condemning the treatment of Navalny.
During his interview with former Fox News star Glenn Beck, Tucker Carlson called those who blame Putin for Navalny’s death “idiots.”
Carlson said Navalny’s death was not ‘beneficial’ for Russia
During the interview, Beck also asked Carlson if he was ever afraid or intimidated while talking to Putin.
‘Navalny’s death during the Munich Security Conference, amid disputes over aid to Ukraine, is definitely not beneficial for Russia. “People who say Putin killed him are idiots,” Carlson said.
Carlson was widely criticized for his interview with Putin in which he failed to reject many of the despot’s bizarre claims.
In an exclusive statement to DailyMail.com, Carlson said: “It’s horrible what happened to Navalny. This whole thing is barbaric and horrible. No decent person would defend him.
Following Carlson’s comments to Beck, DailyMail.com contacted the host for further clarification on what he considered “horrible” about “what happened to Navalny” and what was “barbaric and horrible.” “.
His death came just days after Carlson conducted a “soft” interview with Putin in Moscow.
It later emerged that on the day of the interview, Putin’s secret security force, the FSB, arrested Ksenia Karelina, a dual Russian-American citizen, on charges of swearing.
During his interview with Beck, he asked Carlson, “Did it ever occur to you that ‘I’m not in my home country.’ I’m saying this to a very powerful man who does what he wants? “Were you ever worried?
‘No. I didn’t worry for a second about being there. I wasn’t worried about going there, not because I trust the Russian government, I don’t, but because my kids are grown and I don’t really care at the moment. I feel protected. I say my prayers,’ Carlson said.
Speaking specifically of Putin, Carlson said: “I didn’t feel intimidated at all. I got angry a couple of times. He described the dictator as “interesting” but said he was also “hostile.”
Alexei leaves behind his wife Yulia (pictured)
Russian police officers stand next to flowers near the Wall of Pain monument placed in memory of Alexei Navalny
The Dancing with the Stars contestant added that he felt Putin’s hostility toward the West was due to the West’s “rejection” of Russia.
‘[Putin is] “Very hurt by what he considers the rejection of the West.” And he added that it makes him “angry.”
‘Russia entered eastern Ukraine because the Biden administration forced them to do so. There is a war in Ukraine because the Biden administration wanted a war in Ukraine,” Carlson continued.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations of a cover-up, telling reporters that “these are absolutely baseless and insolent accusations against the head of the Russian state.”
Putin has not commented publicly on Navalny’s death.
On Monday he signed a decree promoting several military and police officials, including Valery Boyarinev, first deputy head of the State Penitentiary Service.
Boyarinev, who received the rank of colonel general, has been accused by Navalny’s team of personally ordering restrictions on the opposition leader.
Peskov denied there was any connection between Navalny’s death and Boyarinev’s new rank.
A view of the entrance to the IK-3 penal colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region, about 1,900 kilometers northeast of Moscow, Russia.
Navalny’s death has deprived the Russian opposition of its best-known and most inspiring politician less than a month before an election that will surely give Putin another six years in power.
Many Russians had seen Navalny as a rare hope for political change amid Putin’s relentless crackdown on the opposition.
In her video on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya vowed to continue her fight against the Kremlin. On Tuesday, her X account, where she had posted the video, was briefly suspended by the platform without explanation, but later restored.