Tucker Carlson's Iran war claims provoke Ted Cruz
Tucker Carlson humiliated Republican senator Ted Cruz during an intense grilling over Iran in which he sensationally claimed America is 'carrying out military strikes.' Former Fox firebrand Carlson has shared a snippet of his sit-down with Cruz, who has been calling for Trump to help Israel overthrow the Iranian regime in what would be a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict.
Carlson has made no secret of his disdain for Trump 'abandoning his America First policies' amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. And now with America teetering on the brink of full scale involvement, Carlson pressed Cruz on his knowledge of the Middle Eastern region with a series of 'gotcha' questions which culminated in a jaw dropping revelation that America was directly involved in 'carrying out military strikes' on Iran.
Cruz's statement is a major departure from everything the Trump administration has said about US involvement up until this stage - a point that was not lost on Carlson. 'You said Israel was [carrying out strikes],' Carlson said, to which Cruz responded: 'I've said we. Israel is leading them, but we're supporting them. You're breaking news here,' Carlson said. 'The US government last night denied... on behalf of Trump, that we're acting on Israel's behalf in any offensive capacity.'
Cruz appeared to backpedal on his statement, then telling Carlson: 'No, we're not bombing them. Israel is bombing them.' Carlson said: 'You just said we were. This is high stakes. You're a senator. If you're saying the United States is at war with Iran right now, people are listening.' The conservative commentator's earlier line of questioning had put Cruz under pressure and highlighted just how little he knows about the region.
'How many people live in Iran, by the way?' Carlson had asked. 'I don't know the population,' Cruz accepted, much to Carlson's horror as he quipped: 'At all?' 'You don't know the population of the people you're trying to topple?' Carlson added. Cruz tried to turn the tables back on Carlson, asking him for the number, to which the podcast host immediately responded: '92 million.' 'How could you not know that?' Carlson said. 'It's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government.'
By this stage, the men were shouting over the top of one another as Cruz frantically tried to defend himself, first arguing 'I don't sit around memorizing population tables', before adding: 'Why is it relevant whether it's 90 million or 80 million.' Carlson, who appeared incredulous at the question, began to explain why he found it important 'if you don't know anything about the country', but was cut off by Cruz who said: 'I didn't say I don't know anything about Iran.' 'Okay,' Carlson countered, 'what is the ethnic mix of Iran?'
Cruz stumbled over his answer, naming Persians and 'predominately Shia' before he was cut off by Carlson, who said again: 'What percent? You don't know anything on Iran.' Finally Cruz cracked, shouting: 'Okay, I'm not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran.' Carlson said: 'You're the Senator who is calling for the overthrow of the government and you don't know anything about the country.' The argument went from bad to worse when Cruz began leveling insults at Carlson. He said: 'No, you don't know anything about the country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump. You're the one who can't figure out if it was a good idea to kill General Solami.'
Trump is said to be considering a US strike on Tehran following Situation Room crisis talks with security advisors. But up until this point, Trump and his senior officials have repeatedly maintained that the United States played no part in the offensive strikes Israel has launched at Iran. Both Israel and Iran launched fresh strikes at each other overnight, as Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it launched a 'more powerful' new wave of missiles at Israel. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned: 'The battle begins... We will show the Zionists no mercy.' Trump and Carlson have had a high-profile falling out amid Carlson's public criticism of the assault on Iran.
Trump wrote Monday night on Truth social: 'Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that,' IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!' Earlier in the day, he said: 'I don't know what Tucker Carlson is saying. Let him go get a television network and say it so that people listen.' The former host was spectacularly fired from the news network in April 2023 and started his own independent network.
Carlson issued a chilling warning to Trump on the War Room show with Steve Bannon to discuss the ongoing debate about Iran and the role the United States should play. 'A full-scale war with Iran,' he argued, 'would end, I believe, Trump's presidency, effectively end it, so that's why I'm saying this.'
Carlson said if he could speak to Trump about the conflict, he would urge him to act in America's interests and bring peace to the region. 'I would say to him, you're the only person who can bring peace. You should continue to try and do that, it's difficult, it takes a long time but your timetable is the only timetable that matters, don't get [expletive] rushed,' he said. Carlson called his long-time ally Trump 'complicit in an act of war,' while he slammed conservatives close to the president as 'warmongers' in a social media post the same day.
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