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Tucker Carlson<\/strong> has been spotted hanging out in Moscow over the weekend, the Russian Telegram channel Mash reported, igniting speculation that the former Fox News host was visiting the Russian capital for an interview with the country\u2019s president, Vladimir Putin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Carlson, who maintains close ties<\/a> to former President Donald Trump<\/strong> and has been rumored<\/a> as a possible VP pick, arrived in Moscow on Thursday, and was photographed at the famed Bolshoi Theater, where he reportedly attended<\/a> the ballet \u201cSpartacus.\u201d<\/p>\n Already on Sunday, the news was generating buzz among U.S. politicians. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/strong>, who has been featured<\/a> on Russian State TV due to the generally pro-Russia line she has taken following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, wrote<\/a> on X, formerly Twitter, that \u201cDemocrats and their propagandists in the media are spasming at the prospect of Tucker Carlson interviewing Putin.<\/p>\n \u201cThey feel entitled to the position of gatekeeper and believe they are the ones who tell you what to think and believe,\u201d Greene added. \u201cWe have a free press in this country, and it\u2019s people like Tucker Carlson who we depend on to speak the truth!\u201d<\/p>\n Former Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger<\/strong>, whom Carlson frequently derided<\/a> on his Fox News show, responded<\/a> to the news on X, formerly Twitter, calling Carlson a \u201ctraitor.\u201d Kinzinger has previously described<\/a> Carlson\u2019s show as \u201ccompletely evil\u201d and \u201cfull of Russian propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n While Carlson\u2019s reasons for traveling to Moscow are not immediately clear, the news host has long been a vocal defender<\/a> of Putin\u2019s authoritarian regime. He consistently came to the Russian president\u2019s defense following the invasion of Ukraine, after which he became one of the most high-profile critics of U.S. involvement in the war. He has called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/strong> \u201csweaty and rat-like\u201d and described Ukraine as \u201ca pure client state of the United States State Department.\u201d<\/p>\n His consistently pro-Putin, anti-Ukraine rhetoric earned him a prominent spot on Russian state TV, which frequently features his commentary. In 2022, when Carlson still had his Fox News primetime slot, Mother Jones<\/em> magazine reported<\/a> on a memo the Kremlin sent to Russian state news outlets, asking them to \u201cuse as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson.\u201d When Carlson was fired from Fox News in April of 2023, Russian news outlets leaped to his defense with headlines like \u201cCarlson fired over fearless Ukraine reporting,\u201d The Washington Post<\/em> reported<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n Last September, Russia\u2019s top state news channel began advertising a news show with Carlson as the host. Carlson denied any knowledge of the program, calling it \u201cmore Russia-related bullshit.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve never heard of this, or the channel,\u201d he told<\/a> the Financial Times<\/em>. \u201cOf course, I\u2019m not hosting a show on Russian television. That\u2019s absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n