American conservative pundit Tucker Carlson on Tuesday released an interview with Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin, who criticized “Anglo-Saxon” individualism and warned that Western liberal ideas would bring about the loss of “human identity.”In the 20-minute conversation with Carlson, who is known for spreading far-right conspiracy theories, Dugin argued that liberalism frees people from “any kind of collective identity.”“That has led to transgender [people], to LGBT and new form[s] of sexual individualism.

So, sex is something optional,” he said, calling LGBTQ+ lifestyles “not a deviation, but a necessary element of implementation and the victory of this liberal ideology.”Sometimes referred to in Western media as “Putin’s brain” or “Putin’s Rasputin,” the 62-year-old Dugin is an outspoken supporter of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as President Vladimir Putin’s domestic policies that aim to promote “traditional” values.

However, the philosopher has no official ties to the Kremlin and his influence over the Russian leader is subject to debate.According to Dugin, the final step “in this process of liberalism will mean precisely the human optional: so you can choose your individual identity to be human [or] not be human.”“That has a name: transhumanism, post-humanism, singularity, artificial intelligence,” he said.At the same time, Dugin described Putin as a “traditional leader” who “contradicts the global progressivist agenda” and defends traditional values.“Observers from the progressive camp in the West have understood that from the beginning of his rule correctly, so this hatred [toward Putin] is not just something casual,” he said.

“Someone with nuclear weapons to stand strong defending traditional values you’re going to abolish, I think they have some basis for this Russophobia and the hatred for Putin.”During the interview, which was said to have been filmed earlier this year in Moscow, Carlson claimed that the Biden Administration banned Dugin’s books inside the United States because his “ideas are too dangerous.” While Washington did sanction the Russian philosopher in 2015 over his involvement in the Ukraine conflict, these restrictions do not ban the publication and sale of his books.Dugin is the third Russian figure to be interviewed by Carlson in recent episodes of his online news show following Putin and tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov.In August 2022, Dugin’s daughter was killed in a car bomb attack that the Russian authorities blamed on Kyiv.