Topline
Tucker Carlson, the right-wing commentator who has broken with President Donald Trump over the Iran war and has become a subject of the president’s ire, apologized for his role in helping him get elected on an episode of his podcast, saying he will be “tormented” by it for a “long time.”
Tucker Carlson apologized for helping elect Trump in an episode of his podcast. (Photo by Olivier Touron / AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Carlson, who spoke on his podcast with his brother and a former speechwriter for Trump, Buckley Carlson, said he will be “tormented” by his support for Trump for a “long time,” apologizing to listeners for “misleading” them about the president.
“We’re implicated in this for sure,” Carlson said, acknowledging he campaigned for him and his brother wrote speeches for Trump in 2015, calling it a moment to “wrestle with our own consciences.”
Carlson doubled down on his criticisms of the war in Iran, saying Trump “clearly had no plan” and was “fully aware that it was a betrayal of his explicit promises for 10 years not to do this.”
Buckley Carlson called Trump an “out of control, megalomaniacal, destructive president” and suggested Congress should “consider” invoking the 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential succession and would allow members of the cabinet and the vice president to remove the president from office if he is deemed unfit.
Buckley Carlson said it’s not “crazy” to suggest using the 25th Amendment if the country is “suffering great and lasting damage, which it seems to be,” and Tucker Carlson stopped short of endorsing the 25th Amendment, but said the “first step toward redemption of yourself and your country” is to “tell the truth, whatever you think that it is.”
Elsewhere in the episode, both Carlsons criticized Trump over his “crazy disloyalty” to former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, his administration’s handling of the Epstein files and for not displaying “enough real sympathy or focus on finding Charlie Kirk’s killers.”
Why Did Trump And Tucker Carlson Split?
Carlson, who for much of Trump’s political career was a Fox News host, had long been an advocate of the president. “I’m voting for Trump, and if they convict him, I will send him the max donations and I will lead protests,” Carlson said in 2023, after Trump was indicted in a hush money case. Carlson also interviewed Trump in August 2023, as Trump skipped a Republican presidential primary debate. But fractures grew in their relationship last summer after Israel launched attacks on Iran. Carlson said Trump was “complicit” in the military escalation and warned him to stay away from getting involved. Trump called Carlson “kooky” and claimed he later called and apologized. But Carlson’s criticisms grew after the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February, creating a full-on break with the president. Carlson has called the Iran war the “single biggest mistake” Trump, or any other president in Carlson’s lifetime, has made, suggesting Trump is a “slave” to Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to Carlson’s remarks, Trump has repeatedly slammed him in posts on Truth Social. “Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!!” Trump said last week. In a post earlier this month, Trump said Carlson and other right-wing critics of the Iran war are “stupid people” who are seeking “cheap publicity” for their podcasts.
Who Else Has Broken With Trump Over Iran?
Carlson is just one of several prominent conservative voices who have broken with Trump over the Iran war, creating a fracture within the MAGA movement. Podcast hosts Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones—all of whom previously supported Trump—have become high-profile critics of the war in Iran. Kelly has repeatedly slammed the war, saying in March the U.S. service members who have died didn’t die for the United States, they “died for Iran or Israel.” Jones, a conspiracy theorist and founder of Infowars, urged Republicans to ditch Trump over Iran, warning they would suffer in the midterm elections. Joe Rogan, who has described himself as neither right nor left wing but endorsed Trump in 2024, has also said Trump violated his “America First” promises by launching the war on Iran.
Further Reading
Trump Attacks Podcasters—Again—As MAGA Media Rift Deepens Over Iran War, ‘Blasphemous’ Posts (Forbes)
Trump Calls Tucker Carlson ‘Low IQ Person’ After Former Ally Slams ‘Vile’ Iran Threats (Forbes)
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