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After former Fox News telly host Tucker Carlson announce on X he would be interviewing Russian President of the United States Vladimir Putin , downloads of the app formerly known as Twitter jumped , sending X to the top of the U.S. App Store overnight . Multiple outlet on Wednesday , includingReuters , the AP , andThe New York Times , have confirm that Carlson โs interview has already taken place , andThe Wall Street Journalsaid the interview is expected to air on Thursday , abduce unnamed sources .
Interest in the Carlson - Putin interview likely drive a spike in new installs for the X app , which begin climb up the App Store chart around 7 PM EST and then became the No . 1 app by midnight , according to data from app tidings firmAppfigures . Its move unseat rival Instagram Threads , which was antecedently the top app and has now moved down to No . 2 .
Appfigures โ early estimate indicate X gained 117,000 novel downloads on Tuesday , up from 93,000 the day before . Because the app started gain steam subsequently in the evening , the business firm believes X could still acquire more installs today .
๐ is now the # 1 most downloaded app of any kind!pic.twitter.com / TeqWxcmZfs
โ Elon Musk ( @elonmusk)February 7 , 2024
In his television , Carlson touted on the Elon Musk โ owned platform that he would soon air Putin โs first audience with a Western mass medium outlet since Russia โs invasion of Ukraine . A Kremlin spokespersontold Reutersthat Putin gibe to the interview because Carlson โs approach would take issue from the โ one - sided โ coverage on Ukraine by many Western media outlets . In other words , Putin believes he will not only get a openhearted ear but also the ability to reach a extensive , potentially openhearted audience .
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In a videoposted on X on Tuesday good afternoon , Carlson look in a video shot from a high - hike in central Moscow . In it , he explain why he would be interview Putin , say that โ most Americans have no idea why Putin occupy Ukraine , or what his goals are now . โ The former Fox News media personality also imply that Americans had the right field to know these things because they bear some of the cost of the Russia - Ukraine warfare . He indicate that he alone was unforced to ask Putin for the interview โ an opinion CNN and PBS journalist Christiane Amanpour was nimble to chasten , posting :
Does Tucker really cerebrate we journalist have nโt been stress to question President Putin every day since his full scale intrusion of Ukraine ? It โs idiotic โ we โll remain to ask for an interview , just as we have for years now .
Critics have call out Carlson antecedently for appear to commiserate with Russia โs position , havingearlier directedhis Fox News audience to ask themselves what the Ukraine conflict was really all about and why they hate Putin so much .
The TV boniface is among a small bent of creators who have set up shop on the rebranded X under Musk โs possession . However , Muskclarified last May , curtly after Carlson โs sacking from Fox , that X does nโt have a mess with the video host . Instead , Carlson would still be subject to the rules that rule other contented creators on X , Musk explain ย โ including those that give Divine a slash of X โs ad gross .
Musk โs government have shifted right in late years , and his tendency to mail his controversial survey on the political platform has put X into hot water at time and even threatened its future profitability . Late last twelvemonth , for instance , X facedan advertiser exodusover some of Musk โs antisemitic remark .
The timing of X โs stiletto heel to the top of the App Store is also noteworthy for another ground , besides the Tucker Carlson news .
Yesterday , X competitorBluesky opened its doors to the publicafter being in invite - only status . This year , Bluesky be after to launch federation , mean it will work as a decentralized choice to Twitter / X , similar to Mastodon . However , it uses a different underlying protocol , the AT Protocol , whileMastodonandInstagram Threads , another decade rival , are progress on ActivityPub .
Though Bluesky gained some 800,000 Modern users yesterday , it does not rank in the top 100 complimentary apps on the U.S. App Store at this time .
Update , 2/8/24 , 9 am et : The Verge points out that anotherviral moment involving Drakecould have been responsible for the spate in young installs . However , it noted that Wiley Post with millions of panorama had spread for days on the platform . Meanwhile , the steep jump in ten installs came in the evening , only hr after Carlson โs annunciation .
Bluesky is now open for anyone to conjoin
