In return for slobbering over Russia, Tucker Carlson was mocked by Vladimir Putin during their lapdog interview and cut apart by him afterward.

Carlson was so pro-Russia while he was a Fox News host, the Kremlin called him “essential” to their propaganda and told the media to use clips of his rhetoric “as much as possible.”

So, it was not a huge surprise that Carlson traveled to Moscow and, as The Hill reported, called it “so much nicer” than any U.S. city. He also said it’s “so much cleaner, and prettier aesthetically — its architecture, its food, its service — than any city in the United States.” Undoubtedly, he also meant it’s so much whiter.

I did not watch Carlson’s two-hour interview with Vladimir Putin, but it is embedded below this post, should any reader have the desire. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has what seems a good summary:

Carlson’s reasons [for interviewing Putin] are fairly obvious: an interview with Putin was a provocative gesture that delighted his audience, many of whom are opponents of U.S. President Joe Biden. Warnings that Putin could use him as a propaganda tool did nothing to dissuade Carlson. But to a large extent, that’s what happened: interviewing Putin is no easy task, and the former Fox news presenter immediately found himself on the receiving end of a lengthy and controversial history lecture.

Twice during the encounter, Putin accused Carlson of not asking sufficiently serious questions. It’s worth watching the interview just to see how Putin made even an unthreatening figure like Carlson squirm. To be fair, Carlson tried to interrupt Putin’s interminable history lecture, but was repeatedly swatted aside.

Putin also gratuitously mocked Carlson for having been rejected by the CIA.

To top it off, Putin reiterated his complaints about Carlson on Russian state TV yesterday.

From Politico:

Speaking to Russian state TV, Putin said he had thought Carlson was a dangerous person, “because I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask so-called sharp questions. And I wasn’t just ready for that, I wanted it, because it would have given me the opportunity to respond sharply in kind … But he chose a different tactic.”

…

Putin, who famously enjoys trolling Western figures, smirked while describing Carlson’s passivity to Russian TV propagandist Pavel Zarubin: “He tried to interrupt me several times, but still, surprisingly for a Western journalist, he turned out to be patient and listened to my lengthy dialogues, especially those related to history, and didn’t give me reason to do what I was ready for. So frankly, I didn’t get complete satisfaction from this interview.”

Politico also pointed out that if Putin had really wanted an aggressive interviewer with sharp questions, he would have granted an interview to one of the actual reporters who have been unsuccessfully trying to interview him.

The Daily Beast reported that the interview was a ratings flop in Russia.

I suspect Putin’s Carlson-bashing was a power play on his part but I’m no expert on him or Russia.

I’m more curious about Carlson’s reaction. He has proven himself to be thin-skinned and vengeful. So, will he continue to slobber over Putin despite the humiliation or will he suck it up for the sake of his love for fascism and hatred for U.S.?

We'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile, you can watch Carlson’s Putin interview below.