Did Russian President Vladimir Putin compare Bud Light beer to "gay piss," predict that Donald Trump will "whup some ass" after winning the U.S. presidential election and accuse Hillary Clinton of killing Jeffrey Epstein in his interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson? No, that's not true: The interview, released on February 8, 2024, on Carlson's website, does not contain these statements. It contains fake audio and video clips from two previous interviews, one by NBC.
The claims appeared in a video no longer available but archived here on TikTok by @sgtcoala6 on February 9, 2024. The TikTok account, including this post, has since been removed. The overlay text (translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff) read:
Beer, Trump and murder: An excerpt of Tucker Carlson's interview with Putin has leaked to the Internet.- According to you, who will win the presidential election in the US in 2024?- It is no secret that Donald Trump will be the next president. And when he takes over the White House again, I am afraid that he will have someone for breakfast.- What do you think about Bud Light beer?- It is gay. Urine. Faggot urine.- Who killed Jeffrey Epstein?- That's simple. Hillary. She is called Killary Clinton for no reason.
The Czech text is a loose translation of the video's English audio, which, transcribed by Lead Stories staff, says:
C: Who do you think will win the 2024 election in the United States?P: Everyone knows President Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States, and as soon as he takes back the White House, he's probably gonna whup some ass.C: What do you think about Bud Light?P: Gay. Piss. Gay piss.C: Who killed Jeffrey Epstein?P: That's easy. Hillary did it. We don't call her Killary Clinton for no reason.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok before being removed:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 10:13:28 2024 UTC)
The video is a repost from Telegram (archived here) where it remains available. The post claims it is a leak from Carlson's two-hour one-on-one with the Russian leader.
However, the Putin interview, released on February 8, 2024, does not include such statements and the audio in the excerpt is fake. While in the alleged leak the Russian leader speaks English, in the original interview he replied to Carlson in Russian, and his answers were simultaneously translated into English in real time.
The visuals do not match either, a comparison with Carlson's real Putin interview showed. Carlson's tie, shirt and background differ. In the fabricated excerpt, the Carlson footage came from his Fox News one-on-one with former President Donald Trump, aired on April 11, 2023. That was revealed by a Google image search (archived here) for the words "Tucker Carlson interview," conducted by Lead Stories on February 19, 2024. See the screenshots below.
This is an image of Carlson in the Putin interview:
(Source: Tucker Carlson website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 19:30:39 2024 UTC)
This is how he appears in the fabricated Putin interview leaked excerpt:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat Feb 10 00:38:45 2024 UTC)
And this is Carlson in his Fox News one-on-one with Trump:
(Source: Fox News website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 17:47:08 2024 UTC)
The shots of Putin are from an interview with NBC News' international correspondent Keir Simmons, which was taped in Moscow on June 11, 2021, a Google Lens reverse image search conducted by Lead Stories on February 26, 2024, revealed (archived here). See the screenshots below.
This is a wide shot of Putin in the fabricated excerpt:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat Feb 10 00:38:02 2024 UTC)
And here is the Russian president in the 2021 NBC News one-on-one:
(Source: NBC News website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 17:32:44 2024 UTC)
While this is a wide shot from the Carlson interview:
(Source: Tucker Carlson website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 19:51:08 2024 UTC)
This is a close-up of Putin in the fabricated excerpt:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Sat Feb 10 00:38:16 2024 UTC)
And a close-up from the NBC News interview:
(Source: NBC News website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 20:11:14 2024 UTC)
Compared to a frame from the Carlson sit-down, in which the tie and background differ:
(Source: Tucker Carlson website screenshot taken on Mon Feb 19 20:23:27 2024 UTC)
