Elon Musk slammed the EU after it was reported that the supranational organization was mulling sanctions on conservative journalist Tucker Carlson after he announced he was interviewing Vladimir Putin.
The tech billionaire took to his website X to slam rumours that the European Union could seek a “travel ban” against Tucker Carlson if the interview went ahead.
Musk wrote: “If true, this would be disturbing indeed. One may agree with Tucker or not, but he is a major American journalist and such an action would greatly offend the American public.”
Newsweek exclusively spoke to Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister and current member of the European Parliament, who claimed Carlson was a “mouthpiece” for former president Donald Trump.
The MEP said that it would seem “logical” that the External Action Service – the group in charge of the EU’s foreign policy including sanctions – to look into the matter.
READ MORE: Russia claims Tucker Carlson’s interview with Putin will spark ‘civil war’
Carlson posted a video Tuesday explaining his motive for interviewing Putin who launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Russia’s neighbor Ukraine in February.
In the clip, Carlson said: “Most Americans have no idea why Putin invaded Ukraine or what his goals are now. We are not here because we love Vladimir Putin, we are here because we love the United States. And we want it to remain prosperous and free.”
He continued: “We are not encouraging you to agree with what Putin may say in this interview, but we are urging you to watch it. You should know as much as you can.”
Carlson drew the ire of other journalists when he claimed “not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview” Putin with many pointing out that they had sent numerous interview requests to the Kremlin.
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Moscow has since confirmed that the interview between Carlson and Putin has taken place. Carlson said the sit-down would be released “soon” on X and his website.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “When it comes to the countries of the collective West, the large network media, TV channels, (and) large newspapers can in no way boast of even trying to at least look impartial in terms of coverage.
“These are all media outlets that take an exceptionally one-sided position. Of course, there is no desire to communicate with such media, and it hardly makes sense, and it is unlikely that it will be useful.”
He called Carlson’s position “different from the others” and said that was why Putin granted him the interview.
