The primary reason is that the Russian president puts his country's interests first, according to the US journalist

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the most popular leader in the world, American journalist Tucker Carlson has claimed, in an interview with RTVI US.

Outside of Western Europe, Canada, and the "Anglo-sphere," it is almost impossible to meet someone who doesn't like Putin, Carlson told the network.

"He is the most popular leader in the world, by far," Carlson said, noting that the primary reason for Putin's global popularity is the fact that he has "put his own country's interests above his own in a lot of ways. In ways that Western leaders don't."

Asked if his perspective on Putin's worldview had changed after an interview with him in February 2024, Carlson said that he was surprised to realize that the Russian president "actually likes the West." And that he probably likes it "way more than anyone who would potentially replace Putin."

In his interview with RTVI US, Carlson also suggested that the US, Western Europe, and most of the industrialized world, are "in a decline phase" while Russia is experiencing a "spiritual revival" and is proving to be a prosperous country with "a sense of self-worth and a sense of purpose." He further proposed that this was one of the reasons the West "hates it so much" and wants to destroy it.

Carlson told Germany's Bild, in July, that while Putin had been doing a "great job for Russia," Western leaders were failing their people.

"Your country is going down, Russia is going up. You should be mad at your own leaders. You are mad at Putin instead," he told the outlet. Carlson went on to suggest that German officials were attacking Putin and Russia to distract the public from domestic economic and migration issues.