The rapturous Russian response to the occasion of the much-hyped Feb. 9 Tucker Carlson interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin, which continued before, during and after the event, was captured “tongue in cheek” by a blogger calling himself Russian Politics No Context claimed: “Feb. 9 – Victory day in the information war”:
— Russian Politics No Context (@RuPolitics_NC) February 9, 2024
That view was not reflected elsewhere. The two-hour monologue in which Putin used his revisionist version of the history of Ukraine to justify his “special military operation,” was castigated by serious Western commentators, with social media responding in its customary “out of the box” brickbats and ridicule.
While the interview was shown at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the US, it didn’t hit the airwaves until 2:00 a.m. in Moscow, to which a number of Russian users simply asked “Are you up?” – in posts that have since been taken down.
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Blogger Uliana Yapparova, commenting on the length of sock the Putin was revealing wrote: “I would have started with this question – who chooses your pants?”
Я бы с этого вопроса начала pic.twitter.com/vN9Rxz8D23
— Uliana Yapparova (@Ulianalive) February 8, 2024
Others (naturally, of course) cast Putin as, Sauron, the archvillain in JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”:
“You see Tucker in order to truly understand the history of Sauron you must understand Morgoth. I’d like to walk you through the First Age for a brief moment. I’m assuming you’ve read the Ainulindalë?” pic.twitter.com/sJGdd2zqap
— The Middle-earth Mixer (@MiddleearthMixr) February 9, 2024
Russian comedian Anton Pikuli wrote that Carlson’s interview followed this sort of pattern:
Tucker: “Mister Putin, why did you attack Ukraine?”
NATO Set To Hold Off Ukraine Invite Push as Trump Looms
Vlad: “Carlson, my dear boy, did you know that in the year 862 Rurik...”
Интервью Путина Такеру Карлсону би лайк: pic.twitter.com/MavkfA9R9W
— Антон Пикули (@antonpikuly) February 9, 2024
Some social media users wanted to assert historical territorial claims of their own.
The former Mongolian president posted a map of the extent of the Mongol empire on Telegram:
Alexander Clarkson, a lecturer at London’s King’s College also picked up on the Mongolian theme:
In a Mongolian Military Intelligence Agency back office in Ulan-Bator, a young officer presses pause on the Carlson-Putin interview and takes a few maps out of his desk pic.twitter.com/mFwdOTuvkQ
— Alexander Clarkson (@APHClarkson) February 9, 2024
Chris Bakke gave an explanation of the look of pained concentration on Tucker’s face as Putin finally moved on from the 9th century:
When you're 3 hours into an interview and really have to use the restroom but an armed Russian guard just signaled you to sit back down so Putin can finish the last 37 minutes of his story about the recent sanctions on Lithuanian banana exports pic.twitter.com/GxdtpLBPYm
— Chris Bakke (@ChrisJBakke) February 9, 2024
“Seva” wanted to know about NATO’s role in causing the war:
Carlson: what caused the war and why was it NATO?
— Seva (@SevaUT) February 9, 2024
Putin: In 862 the people of Novgorod invited a Varangian prince….
C: and what about NATO? please say Nato
P: Let us recall Yaroslav the Wise, who once had a dream about a Ukrainian witch….
Some said the interview should have been conducted by British comedian Philomena Cunk who once asked a historian: “What is the Soviet Onion?” They thought she would get right to the nub of the issues at hand unlike her ex-Fox News counterpart:
The interview we all want to see. pic.twitter.com/pOqRehh3mh
— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) February 9, 2024
The moral of this story is that if you, dear reader, want to better fill two hours of your time than watch a rerun of the Carlson-Putin interview there are many more similar memes out there who will explain everything that was said and in a far more entertaining manner.
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