White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized Tucker Carlson’s claims as “ridiculous” regarding interference from the Biden administration before his upcoming interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Carlson announced on Tuesday that he would be conducting an interview with Putin in Moscow. In a recent post on X, he emphasized the importance of informing the American public about the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, stating that they have a right to know.
“Nearly three years ago, the Biden administration allegedly engaged in unauthorized surveillance of our text messages and subsequently disclosed their contents to individuals in the news media,” stated the former Fox News host in his preview video.
They did this to prevent a scheduled interview. Last month, it appears they repeated the same action once again. But this time, we decided to go to Moscow anyway.
During her regular briefing on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre initially declined to comment on the interview or Carlson’s claims.
However, shortly after, Jean-Pierre changed his direction and stated, “I actually want to revisit your question.”
“It’s an absurd premise and an absurd statement that was made about this administration,” she remarked.
“I want to emphasize that this is absolutely absurd.”
Tucker Carlson’s Putin Interview Teaser
During his brief video announcing the Putin interview, Carlson did not provide any evidence or elaborate on his allegation against US-backed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he frequently criticizes in light of Putin’s invasion.
In June 2021, Carlson made a claim that he had received information from a source regarding the National Security Agency’s (NSA) alleged monitoring of electronic communications.
According to Carlson, the purpose behind this alleged surveillance was to leak the communications in an effort to remove his show from the air. The NSA refuted the claim.
News outlets have reported on the controversial text messages exchanged by Carlson, which have become part of a defamation case against Fox News. These messages shed light on Carlson’s views towards protesters and his post-2020 election sentiments towards then-outgoing President Donald Trump.