In his latest newsletter, Tucker Carlson argued not only that Iran poses no threat to the United States but also that the U.S. had no Islamic terrorism problem before 1948, suggesting that the creation of Israel is solely responsible for our issue with global jihadism.
"We universally oppose the slaughter of innocents, and this story remains a tragedy regardless of the precise death count," Carlson said of the brutal slaughter of anti-regime protesters in Iran. "Governments should not kill civilians, and we're glad America does not pay the Iranians to do so."
At the same time, it is important to remember where this will lead. Neocons will use this story to push the president to start a regime change war, spreading the fiction Iran is somehow a threat to the United States. It is not. Yes, they scream "Death to America," but they do so in response to our behavior in their region, not out of inherent hatred. America had no Islamist terrorism problem before 1948. That is no coincidence.
This is Tucker Carlson’s newsletter
— Arynne Wexler (@ArynneWexler) January 26, 2026
If 9/11 happened today he’d be with the lefties saying we brought it on ourselves pic.twitter.com/p5Xlf0BCGo
Shabbos Kestenbaum, an American Jewish political commentator who works with PragerU, blasted the screenshot on X, pointing out that "The U.S. Navy was created in 1798 because Islamic terrorists off the coast of Libya kept kidnapping American sailors and merchants, calling them 'infidels.'"
"Treat Qatarlson like the idiot he is," he added, earning a repost from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Tucker Carlson just said "America had no Islamic terrorism problem before 1948."
— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) January 26, 2026
The U.S. Navy was created in 1798 because Islamic terrorists off the coast of Libya kept kidnapping American sailors and merchants, calling them "infidels."
Treat Qatarlson like the idiot he is. pic.twitter.com/n7vGsWrHEN
this 👇 https://t.co/g9tUeoz3uQ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 27, 2026
Now for the million-dollar question: What could cause Carlson to begin thinking like a Democrat?
The United States Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, offered an answer.
Let's just take Tucker Carlson. That a man in his mid-50's who I've known since 1991, when his first job out of college was in Little Rock, Arkansas, working for a newspaper. I worked with him for six and a half years at Fox New sin New York. Suddenly, in a very short period of time, a switch is flipped, and he has a completely different worldview, and his ideological base has completely changed.
That's not normal for someone in his 50's. It just isn't. What happened? I don't know. Is it that it is more profitable for him to do what he is doing now than doing what he was doing when he was at Fox News? He wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't. There has got to be, on all of our parts, a willingness to push back, stand up, speak up, but to do it with facts.
We need to calmly, but with a sense of assurance and confidence, push back on some of the more outrageous things.
I'll give an example. He made a speech a few months ago, and he made a comment. 'Everybody knows that Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent.' Now he said this in front of probably 1,200 people. I wonder how many of those 1,200 actually knew Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent. I would say no one, because to anyone's knowledge, it has never been proven, documented that Jeffrey Epstein was a Mossad agent.
BREAKING: Ambassador Huckabee says he’s known Tucker Carlson for decades—and it’s hard to believe someone suddenly abandons lifelong beliefs in their 50s unless money, not truth, is the motivation.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 27, 2026
pic.twitter.com/fceIHNQUlB
Not only must many of Carlson’s claims, which have gained troubling traction amongst young conservatives, be directly challenged, but conservatives must also ensure he can no longer be credibly portrayed as a representative of the movement. Whether the Trump administration is fully aware of this disconnect remains an open question. Just this month, Carlson was spotted at the White House on at least two separate occasions, participating in a meeting with oil executives and later in a meeting inside the Oval Office.
Tucker Carlson applauds the President as he enters the room to meet with oil executives pic.twitter.com/lHHFnBa7cI
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 9, 2026
Tucker Carlson has had his second in-person meeting with President Trump in the last week.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) January 16, 2026
Last Friday, he had a private lunch with the president.
Here, in addition to President Trump, he also joins Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in the Oval… pic.twitter.com/I7DoOBc1ay
Why someone so fundamentally at odds and hostile to the Trump administration’s stated goals continues to gain access to White House meetings remains unclear.
