An interview between Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz about Israel’s military campaign against Iran became contentious when the ex-Fox News host quizzed the Texas Republican about Iran — highlighting a rift among President Trump’s allies.
The back-and-forth hinged on Cruz’s backing of Israeli strikes against Iranian targets. The Trump administration has stated the U.S. is not directly involved in the offensive, but it has helped Israel defend against Iranian counterattacks, and Mr. Trump has weighed conducting strikes on Iranian nuclear targets, CBS News has previously reported.
Carlson — a vocal skeptic of military intervention — questioned the premise of joining a war with Iran and criticized Cruz for saying he would like the Iranian regime to be toppled, saying to Cruz at one point: “You don’t know anything about Iran.”
One of the most contentious exchanges in the two-hour interview — which was released in full on X Wednesday — came when Carlson asked Cruz what Iran’s population is. Cruz said he wasn’t sure.
“You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?” Carlson asked.
“I don’t sit around memorizing population tables,” Cruz retorted.
The host then followed up by asking Cruz about Iran’s demographics. When Cruz said they were Persians, predominantly Shia Muslims, Carlson asked him for the percentage, frustrating the Texas senator.
“Okay, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran,” Cruz said.
The two Trump supporters also argued about whether Iran has sought to assassinate Mr. Trump, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged last week. Federal prosecutors last year announced charges against an Iranian asset, accusing him of plotting to kill Mr. Trump.
Cruz cited the alleged assassination plots while criticizing Iran’s leadership, but Carlson questioned why the senator hadn’t instead supported immediate U.S. military action if he believed Iran has tried to kill Mr. Trump.
Cruz, meanwhile, suggested Carlson at one point has a “weird … obsession with Israel” when Carlson asked about support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Carlson said he interpreted the comment as an accusation of antisemitism, which Cruz denied.
“You don’t know anything about the country whose government you want to overthrow, and you’re calling me reckless,” Carlson said late in the interview.
“I want to stop a lunatic who wants to murder us from getting nuclear weapons that could kill millions of Americans. You say ‘I can’t see how that benefits America in any way.’ That is bizarre,” Cruz responded.
The sparring continued on social media, with Cruz accusing Carlson of “playing a ‘gotcha’ on the population of Iran” and mocking the question about Iran’s size.
The bitter exchange reflects a wider divide among Mr. Trump’s backers on how involved the U.S. should get in the Israel-Iran conflict. The president has long criticized foreign intervention, but has also supported pressuring Iran.
Mr. Trump’s closest advisers have not reached agreement on whether the president should strike Iranian nuclear facilities, CBS News has reported.
Some Republicans, in addition to Cruz, have backed a hardline policy against Iran and are open to the U.S. joining Israel in striking Iran. GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told CBS News over the weekend he would prefer a diplomatic resolution to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but if that fails, he urged Mr. Trump “to go all in to make sure that when this operation is over, there’s nothing left standing in Iran regarding their nuclear program.”
But other Trump allies are wary of intervention. Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon told Carlson in an interview he views stopping “forever wars” as a core MAGA tenet, and suggested U.S. involvement in Iran could “blow up the coalition” and harm Mr. Trump’s domestic priorities. Still, Bannon told reporters Wednesday he thinks “the vast majority of the MAGA movement” would trust Mr. Trump’s judgment if he decides striking Iran is necessary.
Meanwhile, a handful of congressional Republicans have called for a resolution blocking Mr. Trump from taking military action on Iran without congressional approval.
It’s unclear how the president will proceed, though he downplayed the idea of an intra-MAGA rift over Iran on Wednesday, telling reporters, “my supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them.”
The president also repeatedly lashed out at Carlson on Monday, before the Cruz interview was released. The president called him “kooky” in a Truth Social post, and seemed to mock Carlson over his ouster from Fox News.
“I don’t know what Tucker Carlson is saying,” Mr. Trump said. “Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.”
