• Tucker Carlson said Vladimir Putin was “a couple hours late” for their Kremlin interview this week.
  • Making people wait is a power move often used by the Russian president.
  • Putin launched into a lengthy revisionist history of Russia that Carlson said “annoyed” him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled a power move on Tucker Carlson that set the stage for the former Fox News host getting steamrolled.

In a post-interview reaction clip, Carlson said Putin was “a couple hours late” for his two-hour interview with the Russian leader in the Kremlin this week.

Making people wait is a tactic Putin has regularly used as a power play to show dominance over his guests, including world leaders.

Putin had former President Donald Trump wait for an hour before a summit in Helsinki in 2018.

He was about 50 minutes behind schedule for a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2015, Reuters reported.

And he also held German Chancellor Angela Merkel waiting for more than four hours at a private lunch in 2014, Radio Free Europe reported.

  • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Why are we giving this attention? Tucker Carlson isn’t a journalist, a reporter, or anybody worthy of time.

    He’s like a shitty YouTuber now.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I pay some attention the same way I try to monitor mold growth in the basement, holding my nose. It’s tempting to throw away the key and ignore the problem but in reality it’s useful to monitor this kind of shit.

      This is clearly orchestrated to influence Republican voters (and swing voters):

      • To soften their perception of Putin. (which Fox has been doing since Hannity praised Putin oved Obama)
      • To deflect to Biden and the Border.

      … And quite possibly, the real reason Tucker is in Moscow may not be this interview insomuch as a closed-door meeting with Putin that is sure to not be monitored. Much like when the Republican congressment flew to Moscow on 4th of July or Senator Rand Paul hand-delivered a letter to Putin from Trump.

      Anyway, it’s useful to know what they’re setting up to be the talking-points for the months ahead.

    • cultsuperstar@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Why do people even wait for Putin? If he’s several minutes late, just leave and don’tbother canceling and he shows up for nothing. Or schedule the meeting for like 12pm and the show up at 3pm. If he shows up at 3pm, great. If he shows up at 2pm, then he’s stuck waiting an hour. If he still doesn’t show up at 3pm, again, just leave and don’t bother canceling.

      • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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        9 months ago

        I suspect he has people watching to let him know if someone is about to leave, or hasn’t arrived. Those people likely also run interference if someone is getting up to leave, promising it’ll be just another few minutes.

    • sunbytes@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      He’s said under oath he’s not a journalist, but an entertainer.

      But yeah he’s very influential, and very convincing if you trust him enough to not dig into what he says.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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    9 months ago

    One Obama story I enjoyed was that Obama’s staff insisted that Putin had to get on the phone first, and wait for Obama to get on the phone. Obama couldn’t understand why it was a big deal, and just wanted to get on the phone so they could talk and he could get on with his day, but his diplomatic staff put their foot down, and so when they had a phone call scheduled, he would just assemble a bunch of work and sit down to work on it while no one was on the phone call that was supposed to be what was happening. After some long, long length of time, Putin would give up and connect to the call, and someone would tell Obama, and Obama would put down his work and get on the phone.

    To me it perfectly encapsulates the weirdness of this kind of Trump-yanking-your-hand-around “power move” mentality. If you are stable then you’re either unaffected or repelled by this kind of thing. It is only the very strange who factor it into their future decision-making in anything like the intended way.

    • ringwraithfish@startrek.website
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      9 months ago

      Thanks for sharing that, I hadn’t heard this story before. I wonder if there are other examples of people putting pony boy in his place.

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        9 months ago

        There’s only one other Putin story I like, which sadly doesn’t fit the current narrative if you want an anti-Putin outcome. Putin stole Robert Kraft’s super bowl ring. Kraft met with Putin, and Putin pointed out his ring and asked hey can I see that, and Kraft handed it over so Putin could examine it, and shortly after that there was some kind of interruption, and Putin’s security people told Kraft he had to leave now. They hustled him out without the ring, and at that point it was pretty much gone.

        Kraft was obviously pissed about the loss of the ring, so much so that he tried to get the State Department to make a stink to get it back, and the State Department told him sorry man that’s your own interpersonal problem to deal with.

        IDK why, but the sheer balls of the entire operation kind of made me like Putin for it. Like fuck you, maybe you’re a big shot but I’m a real blatnoy gangster, watch me prove it.

        • ringwraithfish@startrek.website
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          9 months ago

          That’s an intriguing story. I don’t think that makes him a gangster. More like something a common thief would do. That sounds like right out of a playbook of common street urchins in Paris or eastern Asia.

          Glad the state department told Kraft to shove it. Could you imagine an international standoff over a fucking billionaire’s ring.

          • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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            9 months ago

            That’s a lot of gangsters though (in my opinion). There’s this mystique that they’re honorable and all-powerful when in fact the whole thing is based on just the capacity for shocking violence, coupled with this kind of skeevy pettiness. They’re all just a bunch of step-daughter-fuckers with delusions about themselves.

            And yeah, if you hand a precious object to a known thief because in your mind there’s no way he would steal it from you, that’s on you. If you won’t or can’t go head-to-head with him yourself to get it back, then chalk it up as a valuable lesson.

        • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          I feel like contacting the NFL for a replacement would be easier than creating a diplomatic incident with the State Department, but maybe I’m missing something.

  • Nobody@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Being late wasn’t anywhere near the power move of telling Tucker that he’s going to do a 30-second history talk, then rambling about Genghis Khan and Russian princes from the Middle Ages for half an hour, then do another 15 minutes on 20th century history before even remotely beginning to answer the question.

    Tucker kept trying to get him to say something relevant to the war, while Putin dismissed him with a hand wave to keep talking about a war with Poland in the 17th century and then World Wars 1 and 2. Truly bizarre interview.

    • platypus_plumba@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I’m checking the interview right now. Putin just doesn’t give a fuck about an interview, he’s just rambling about whatever he wants to talk about.

  • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    How does it feel Tucker? When the little reality you have formed around yourself comes crashing down, does it make you scared? When you sat in that chair waiting on a unrepentant mob boss and murderer did you realize he owns you now?

    • admiralteal@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Do you really think this didn’t go as he expected and wanted?

      Tucker’s happy to be owned. He’s pleased to be a lap dog. Lap dogs get lavished with praise and attention and unconditional love.

      • CobblerScholar@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Oh sure when he was a half a world away and behind the strength of the US border. Not when he was surrounded by Putins security detail just waiting for hours hoping the last snarky comment he thought he made in private isn’t going to get him killed

  • DeepThought42@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I suspect Putin got what we wanted out of that interview, so Carlson is probably safe saying he was “annoyed”. Still he should be careful to avoid stairs, upper story windows, planes, and ingesting anything he didn’t make himself for the next few years to be on the safe side.

    • n1ckn4m3@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Are you kidding? On the contrary, Carlson has been proven to be the perfect puppet, he let Putin show up and say whatever the fuck he wanted completely unchecked. Carlson’s now on Putin’s Christmas list. This isn’t the last we’re going to hear of their friendship.

      • DeepThought42@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yes, yes I was kidding, but also pointing out the dangers of getting too chummy with a dictator. Their moods can be fickle and their friends can quickly become enemies or liabilities.

        • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Certain industries attract certain kinds of people. When I used to deal with them, and had someone green with me, I would tell him it’s like prison rules but worse. Don’t talk to them, don’t let them do you a favor, try not to take a break until we leave, and don’t make eye contact. Antisocial personality disorder is not a super power.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    In fairness, because Tucker is American, he is used to this since doctors use this power move every time we wait in the exam room.

  • LocoOhNo@lemmus.org
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    9 months ago

    “… But at least it was washed, which I thought was nice of him. He doesn’t usually grant me the benefit of a smegma-free opportunity to worship his grace. I just wish the American people could see him the way I do; as the father figure I never had. It’s my truest honor to help destroy my country from within, like the good boy my Vladdy wants me to be.”

    • Tucker Carlson, probably
  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled a power move on Tucker Carlson that set the stage for the former Fox News host getting steamrolled.

    In a post-interview reaction clip, Carlson said Putin was “a couple hours late” for his two-hour interview with the Russian leader in the Kremlin this week.

    Making people wait is a tactic Putin has regularly used as a power play to show dominance over his guests, including world leaders.

    He said Putin “launched into an extremely detailed history going back to the 9th century of the formation of Russia, from the tribes into a nation, and Ukraine’s part in that.”

    He said Ukrainians were really Russians rebranded by different political players in an effort to undermine Russia’s authority over its borders with European nations, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

    Jonathan Eyal, a Russia expert at the Royal United Services Institute, previously told Business Insider that Putin’s strategy of making people wait indicated “more or less how seriously he takes you, or how pleased he is with you.”


    The original article contains 391 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!