Tucker Carlson’s extended interview with Texas Senator Ted Cruz proved every bit as explosive as its preview clip had promised, with the two conservatives going head-to-head over the prospect of President Donald Trump leading the U.S. into war with Iran.
The complete two-hour cut of The Tucker Carlson Show sitdown with Cruz appeared on Wednesday, a day after a brief excerpt circulated in advance, in which the host could be seen taking the senator to task for not knowing the population of Iran.
That proved to be a mere appetizer, as the two men, perched in opposing chairs beneath an oil painting of Ronald Reagan, repeatedly clashed.
The interview appeared at a pivotal moment, with President Trump weighing joining in Israel’s Operation Rising Lion offensive against Tehran, having reportedly already approved attack plans.
It also served to expose the deep divisions within the president’s MAGA movement over the necessity of intervention, a split that has already seen Trump fall out with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and the likes of Carlson and Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking out against the possibility of war.
Here’s a look at some of Tucker and Ted’s key exchanges.
Cruz and Carlson bicker over ‘antisemitism’ insult
In one of their most tense interactions, Carlson accused Cruz of accepting campaign donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which the host argued was a lobby group seeking to influence the U.S. government on behalf of a foreign country.
“It’s a very weird thing, the obsession with Israel,” Cruz responded.
“You’re not talking about Chinese, you’re not talking about Japanese, you’re not talking about the Brits, you’re not talking about the French. The question is: ‘What about the Jews? What about the Jews?’”
Carlson was angered by the insinuation: “Oh, so I’m an antisemite now?!”
Cruz denied that he had been attempting to “derail” his line of questioning by implying that Carlson was prejudiced.
“Of course you are, and rather than be honorable enough to say it right to my face, you are, in a sleazy feline way, implying it,” Carlson retorted.
“I don’t see a lawmaker’s job as defending the interest of a foreign government. Period. That does not make me an antisemite, and shame on you for suggesting otherwise!”
Carlson challenges Cruz on Iran
Their most viral exchange saw the host ask the senator: “How many people live in Iran, by the way?”
When Cruz admitted he did not know, Carlson became incredulous: “You don’t know the population you seek to topple?”
When the senator referred the question back to Carlson, he answered smartly that 92 million people live there, prompting Cruz to dismiss the significance of the point, saying huffily that he does not “sit around memorizing population tables” in his free time.
Carlson, approaching hysteria, pressed Cruz on the ethnic mix of the Iranian population instead, which the senator initially attempted to answer before stopping short and again insisting the question was irrelevant.
“You’re a senator who’s calling for an overthrow of the government, and you don’t know anything about the country!” Carlson squawked with glee.
Later, Cruz almost blundered into declaring war by inadvertently admitting the Trump administration’s complicity when he said: “We’re carrying out military strikes today.”
At Carlson’s prompting, he raced to clarify that it was Israel carrying out the strikes “with our help.”
“Well, you’re breaking news here, because the U.S. government last night denied – National Security Council Spokesman Alex Pfeiffer denied, on behalf of Trump – that we were acting on Israel’s behalf in any offensive capacity,” Carlson interrupted.
“This is high stakes, you’re a senator, if you’re saying the United States government is at war with Iran right now, people are listening!”
Carlson derides Cruz’s Bible justification
The former Fox News anchor was clearly annoyed by the Texan’s frequent attempts to invoke the Bible to justify his hawkish stance on Iran.
“Growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible that those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I wanna be on the blessing side of things,” the senator said.
Again challenged by Carlson, Cruz could not name which book of the Bible the passage he quoted derived from, and was informed the answer was Genesis.
The host’s scoffing resumed: “So you’re quoting a Bible phrase. You don’t have context for it, and you don’t know where in the Bible it is, but that’s, like, your theology? I’m confused. What does that even mean?”
Cruz reversed and tried again: “Where does my support for Israel come from? Number one, because Biblically, we are commanded to support Israel, but number two…”
Carlson again interrupted, demanding that the senator define what he meant by Israel, prompting Cruz to erupt: “Define Israel?! Do you not know what Israel is? That would be the country you’ve asked like 49 questions about.”
Carlson pressures Cruz over Ukraine
Carlson made headlines around the world last year when he made a surprise visit to Russia to interview Vladimir Putin.
He brought up the Ukraine war again with Cruz, pushing the Republican to renounce his past support for Volodymyr Zelensky’s resistance effort.
“We were unable to beat Russia in the war that you supported against Russia!” the host ranted. “You’ve been spending the last three years telling us that Vladimir Putin is evil and we’re gonna beat him with other people’s children. And a million of those kids are now dead! You’ve never apologized for that. That was a full failure!”
“The number of falsehoods you lay out in one statement is rather stunning!” Cruz volleyed back, before admitting that the war had been “an absolute disaster” for all concerned and then digging in his heels by saying: “I’m not going to engage in the demanding of apologies!”
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