Tucker Carlson disparages US leadership, repeats anti-Israel comments in Saudi TV interview

American political commentator Tucker Carlson appeared in an interview on Saudi Arabia’s Rotana Khalejia network on Saturday, where he reiterated previous anti-Israel remarks while also criticizing Western and U.S. leadership.

“I came to believe that the West, not simply the United States, but many of the countries that I love, that my ancestors came from, were being ruled by people who were unwise and who were selfish,” Carlson said near the beginning of the interview. 

Tucker Carlson renewed his criticism of Israel and repeated a claim that Israel exerts significant influence over the U.S. government, an assertion that critics have described as antisemitic.

“What I really object to, what makes me mad, is when American leaders, whose job it is to represent Americans, are more loyal to a foreign country than they are to their own,” Carlson said during the interview.

He later accused the U.S. of destabilizing the Middle East at Israel’s behest, even claiming that the United States started the 2003 war in Iraq at the behest of Israel. Both U.S. and Israeli officials have denied this, noting that Israel actually cautioned the U.S. against removing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. 

During the interview, host Abdullah Al-Mudaifer played a clip from a previous interview in which Carlson said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “completely evil and completely destructive.” 

Asked by the host if he still stood by those remarks, Tucker responded that he stood by “every word.” 

Carlson’s appearance on the show also raised renewed concerns about his motivations for reversing some of his previous positions and his connections to the White House. 

In the past couple of years, Carlson, who previously warned about the dangers of Islam and had defended Israel, has platformed a variety of anti-Israel and antisemitic speakers on his network, while simultaneously praising Islam and Sharia law. 

To many observers, the dramatic shift from previous positions raises serious questions, leading many to speculate that the popular media personality has become part of an attempt to sow political dissent within the conservative community in the United States, or even to drive a wedge between Christians and the Jewish state. 

On a visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this year, Carlson remarked that he felt “completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam,” and then criticized others who have spoken about Christian persecution in the country, calling them “propagandists and liars.” 

In Saudi Arabia, conversion from Islam to any other religion is illegal and still punishable by death, despite a lack of such executions in recent years. 

These changes, Carlson’s significant influence within the Republican party and the White House, and his son Buckley's position as a press secretary for U.S. Vice President JD Vance, have raised concerns among Jewish Republicans and political conservatives. 

Conservative Jewish activist Lara Loomer expressed alarm that Carlson continues to have significant access to the White House, while also appearing to instigate division within the MAGA movement associated with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

“It’s shocking that I have to say this, but the GOP has a major identity crisis right now, the GOP has a growing Jew hate and foreign influence problem, and the party seems to be in a struggle session with Neo Nazis, who they aren’t explicitly rejecting,” Loomer wrote on 𝕏. 

In a post about Carlson’s interview on the Saudi network, Loomer noted that Iranian media quickly shared stories praising it for his questioning of U.S. policies. She accused Carlson of being “part of a coordinated Islamic media campaign to sabotage President Trump’s Middle Eastern policy agenda,” and of “trying to prevent Saudi Arabia from joining the Abraham Accords.” 

Her comments were affirmed by other conservative Jewish influencers, such as Mark Levin, who wrote, “He should be condemned by the White House, not invited to it.” 

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also expressed concern about Carlson’s access to the White House, given his recent comments and actions that appear to be at odds with Trump’s Middle East strategy. 

“I hope they quit letting him into the White House because, quite frankly, this is a person who is doing serious, significant damage to President Trump and to the administration,” Huckabee told the Christian Broadcasting Network.