The Tucker Carlson Show

Last updated

The Tucker Carlson Show
Tucker Carlson Show.jpg
GenreConservative commentary
FormatWeekly long-form podcast
Country of originUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Cast and voices
Hosted by Tucker Carlson
Publication
Original releaseMay 2024

The Tucker Carlson Show is a weekly conservative political podcast hosted by commentator Tucker Carlson. It is one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. The show, available as audio and video, was launched in May 2024 after Carlson was fired from his Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight in 2023.

Contents

The podcast made controversy in September 2024, when Carlson interviewed amateur historian Darryl Cooper, who made comments that were seen as Holocaust denial without correction or contradiction from Carlson.

History

Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News was the highest-rated cable news program at various points from 2021 to 2023. [1] [2] Tucker Carlson was fired from the show in April 2023 by the network's owner, Rupert Murdoch, after allegations were made over a toxic work environment on the show's set during the lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Network . [3] Weeks later, Carlson announced a live show on Twitter named Tucker on Twitter. In December 2023, Carlson launched the "Tucker Carlson Network" website, which hosts various conservative programs such as Tucker Carlson Uncensored and from other hosts. [4]

The Tucker Carlson Show, a weekly podcast available as audio and video, started in May 2024. [4] [5] At its launch, Slate wrote that Carlson had diminished popularity and that he was readjusting his brand as a commentator to be more appealing to the alt-right rather than traditional conservatism. [4] Tucker on Twitter, now named Tucker on X after Twitter changed its name to X, is still broadcast alongside The Tucker Carlson Show. [6]

2024 Darryl Cooper interview

The September 3, 2024, episode of The Tucker Carlson Show was an interview with amateur historian Darryl Cooper. Without correction or contradiction from Carlson, Cooper made comments that were seen as Holocaust denial, including saying that the millions of people who died during the Holocaust "ended up dead" as if by accident, rather than being systematically killed. Cooper said that Winston Churchill was the "real villain" of World War II, rather than Adolf Hitler. Hitler, he argued, "didn't kill the most people, he didn't commit the most atrocities", and the Nazi Party had expressed "humanity". Elon Musk, who owns X, tweeted that the podcast was "very interesting" and "worth watching"; he deleted the tweet later. The interview was condemned by Republican politicians Liz Cheney and Mike Lawler, the Anti-Defamation League, and White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] All 24 Democratic Jewish members of Congress issued a joint statement denouncing the interview. [11] [12]

JD Vance, then the Republican Party vice presidential candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, was interviewed on The Tucker Carlson Show three days later. An official for Vance's campaign said that coming after Cooper was "not ideal timing, [but] it is what it is". When Vance was asked if Carlson should have interviewed Cooper, he replied, "Tucker Carlson isn't affiliated with the campaign. He's going to do what he wants to do". [13]

2025 Ted Cruz interview

On the June 18, 2025, episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, Carlson interviewed Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, focusing on the prospect of U.S. involvement in the recently commenced war between Iran and Israel. Carlson and Cruz's conversation was largely seen as contentious, as they disagreed on a number of points—Carlson being against U.S.-backed regime change in Iran, and Cruz being in favor of it. A clip of Carlson asking Cruz the population of Iran (around 90 million) to gauge if he was knowledgeable about the subject, went viral on social media: [14] [15] [16] [17]

Carlson: Okay, so you topple the regime and by whatever means, what happens then? How many people live in Iran, by the way?

Cruz: I don’t know the population at all. No, I don’t know the population.

Carlson: You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?

2025 Nick Fuentes interview

On October 28, 2025, Carlson hosted white nationalist political commentator Nick Fuentes. [18]

The Heritage Foundation publicly supported Carlson for having Fuentes onto his podcast; this ignited a debate about antisemitism among conservatives. [19] [20] [21] Republicans including Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell condemned the Heritage Foundation's defense of Carlson. [22]

2026 split with Trump over Iran conflict

Following the start of U.S. military intervention against Iran, Carlson would criticize Trump on the show for his handling of the situation in Iran, dismissed concerns about Iranian weapons, and described the conflict as being based on the "lies" and "regional hegemony" desires of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating "This happened because Israel wanted it to happen. This is Israel’s war. This is not the United States’ war,” “You have that country breaking apart, and what does that mean? Hard to see that as a good thing for the rest of the world,” “The United States didn’t make the decision here. Benjamin Netanyahu did,” “The point is regional hegemony. Really simple," and "Israel wants to control the Middle East.” [23] [24] This triggered backlash from Trump. [24] [23] In a phone interview with Rachael Blade of The Inner Circle on March 2, 2026, Trump declared that both Carlson and Megyn Kelly, another right wing commentator who criticized Trump's Iran policy, "aren't MAGA." [24] [25] On March 5, 2026, ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl revealed that Trump stated to him that "Tucker has lost his way,”and “I knew that a long time ago, and he's not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that." [26] [27] In response to Trump "throwing him out of MAGA," Carlson told Status' Oliver Darcy that "There are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included," while also claiming that "but I’ll always love him no matter what he says about me." [28] [29]

Reception

The Tucker Carlson Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the United States. In July 2024, it was ranked the most popular podcast on Spotify and the 11th most popular podcast on Apple Podcasts. [30] [31] [32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Katz, A. J. (January 3, 2022). "Top Cable News Shows of 2021: Tucker Carlson Tonight Is No. 1 in All Measurements For First Time Ever". Adweek . Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  2. ↑ Battaglio, Stephen (December 19, 2022). "Fox News' 'The Five' topples 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' to become new cable news ratings leader". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  3. ↑ Battaglio, Stephen (April 24, 2023). "Tucker Carlson departs Fox News, pushed out by Rupert Murdoch". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Peters, Justin (May 17, 2024). "What Is Tucker Carlson Even Doing?". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  5. ↑ Masley, Ed (June 10, 2024). "The Tucker Carlson tour to weigh in on election news in Phoenix. Here's how to get tickets". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Robertson, Katie (September 6, 2024). "Tucker Carlson Criticized for Hosting Holocaust Revisionist". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  7. ↑ Lubin, Rhian (September 4, 2024). "Tucker Carlson accused of airing 'pro-Nazi propaganda' on show – as Elon Musk promotes it as 'worth watching'". The Independent. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  8. ↑ Irwin, Lauren (September 6, 2024). "Tucker Carlson blasted for interviewing Holocaust revisionist". The Hill. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  9. ↑ Aleem, Zeeshan (September 6, 2024). "Opinion | Tucker Carlson exposed the darkest truth about the MAGA right". MSNBC. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  10. ↑ Stelter, Brian (September 5, 2024). "White House condemns Tucker Carlson's 'Nazi propaganda' interview as 'disgusting and sadistic insult'". CNN .
  11. ↑ "Statement from Jewish Members of the House of Representatives Regarding Interview Between Tucker Carlson and Nazi Apologist Darryl Cooper". September 9, 2024. Archived from the original on September 14, 2024.
  12. ↑ Solender, Andrew (September 10, 2024). "Tucker Carlson faces rare rebuke from Congress' Jewish Dems". Axios.
  13. ↑ Oamek, Paige (September 6, 2024). "J.D. Vance Doesn't Mind That Tucker Carlson Hosted a Nazi Apologist". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  14. ↑ Blake, Aaron (June 18, 2025). "Analysis: What we learned from Ted Cruz vs. Tucker Carlson | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Opinion | Why Tucker Carlson was so effective in roasting Ted Cruz". MSNBC.com. June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  16. ↑ Habeshian, Sareen (June 18, 2025). "Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson's blowup exposes MAGA's divide on war with Iran". Axios. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  17. ↑ S, Pangambam (June 19, 2025). "Transcript: Tucker Confronts Ted Cruz on His Support for Regime Change in Iran". The Singju Post. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
  18. ↑ Samuels, Ben (October 28, 2025). "Tucker Carlson hosts avowed antisemite Nick Fuentes as far-right strengthens hold on GOP". Haaretz. Archived from the original on October 29, 2025. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  19. ↑ Kashinsky, Lisa (October 30, 2025). "Heritage president backs Tucker Carlson after interview with Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes". Politico . Retrieved November 25, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Carlson interview reveals conservative movement's conflict over antisemitism". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  21. ↑ Leingang, Rachel (October 31, 2025). "Tucker Carlson's interview with far-right antisemite Nick Fuentes divides conservatives". The Guardian . Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  22. ↑ Fields, Ashleigh (October 31, 2025). "Cruz, McConnell slam Heritage president's defense of Tucker Carlson". The Hill . Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  23. 1 2 Tress, Luke (March 3, 2026). "Isolationist US right-wing commentators decry Iran war; Trump says he doesn't care". The Times of Israel. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  24. 1 2 3 Mastrangelo, Dominick (March 3, 2026). "Trump knocks Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly over Iran criticism: 'MAGA is Trump'". The Hill. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  25. ↑ Blade, Rachel (March 2, 2026). "EXCLUSIVE: Trump hits back at Tucker, Megyn Kelly in phone interview with "The Inner Circle"". rachaelbade.substack.com. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  26. ↑ https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/hes-not-maga-trump-officially-cuts-tucker-carlson-loose-from-his-political-movement-in-stunning-comments/%7Ctitle=‘He’s Not MAGA!’ Trump Officially Cuts Tucker Carlson Loose from His Political Movement in Stunning Comments|first=Zachery|last=Leeman|publisher=Mediate|date=March 5, 2026|accessdate=March 5, 2026}}
  27. ↑ Karl, Jonathan (March 5, 2026). "In a lengthy conversation just now, President Trump hit back at Tucker Carlson who called the Iran war "absolutely disgusting and evil." "Tucker has lost his way," Trump told me. "I knew that a long time ago, and he's not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that."". X. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  28. ↑ Bahney, Jennifer Bowers (March 5, 2026). "Tucker Carlson Responds to Trump Throwing Him Out of MAGA: 'I'll Always Love Him'". Mediate. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  29. ↑ Darcy, Oliver (March 5, 2026). "New: Tucker Carlson responds to Donald Trump, after the president says that he has "lost his way" and is "not MAGA." "There are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included," Carlson tells @status.news, "but I'll always love him no matter what he says about me."". X. Retrieved March 5, 2026.
  30. ↑ Vaillancourt, William (July 25, 2024). "Tucker Carlson Overtakes Joe Rogan for Top Spotify Podcast". The Daily Beast. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  31. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael M.; Rutenberg, Jim (July 18, 2024). "Tucker Carlson, Ousted by Fox, Roars Into Milwaukee as a Top Trump Ally". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2024.
  32. ↑ Sainz, Rosana Rábago (July 26, 2024). "Tucker Carlson's podcast beats Joe Rogan's becoming the most listened to podcast on Spotify". VOZ. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.