Independent journalist Megyn Kelly revealed during her Wednesday show that she believed Russian President Vladimir Putin had attempted to get inside her head a bit during an interview.
Kelly discussed Putin — and his history with the KGB — with former chess champion and Renew Democracy Initiative Chairman Garry Kasparov, and the topic turned to the Russian President’s efforts to manipulate the people around him.
Kasparov argued that Putin had used the “tricks” he learned in the KGB to some effect, managing to convince Western leaders that he could be a reasonable leader with whom they could negotiate fairly and in good faith.
“As a leader of Russia who managed to charm his western counterparts. He used his KGB knowledge, I think the tricks were quite primitive but it did work,” he said, going on to tell a story about Putin and former President George W. Bush — which Kasparov believed was entirely fabricated.
“The story that Putin told him, I believe invented, about him being baptized in the Soviet Union and wearing the cross given by the mother. Bush, a devoted Christian – he bought the story,” Kasparov explained. “It created a bond and we should give Putin credit, you know, he knew how to work with people.”
Kelly, who interviewed the Russian dictator in 2018, said she had experienced a similar attempt at “manipulation” from Putin.
“Even when I interviewed Putin and I spent a fair amount of time with him, in three separate sit-downs. He – One of the first things he said to me, and he knew I was the mother of three children, was how much his mother meant to him,” Kelly said. “What a close relationship he had with her. It was an obvious manipulation!”
Kasparov went on to note that Putin did not only use what he knew about his political rivals to win them over, but also to intimidate them when he believed that would better play to his advantage.
“Absolutely, he always tried to play, you know, strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. It’s well known that his first meeting with Angela Merkel knowing that she disliked dogs, he brought his dog to the meeting,” Kasparov added.
Putin later claimed that he had not intended to scare Merkel when he brought the dog along, CNN reported:
Merkel, reportedly fearful of dogs since one attacked her in 1995, was photographed looking distinctly uncomfortable when Putin brought his large black Labrador Koni into a meeting at his summer residence in Sochi, Russia, in January 2007.
The Russian leader appeared to smirk as he watched his pet approach his uneasy VIP guest.
Listen to Kelly’s interview with Kasparov below: