On an April evening that carried the weight of an ongoing war, Tucker Carlson sat with his brother and confessed, on his own podcast, that he regretted lending his voice to Donald Trump. The apology arrives shaped by a conflict over Iran and a career long accustomed to shifting with the currents of its time. Whether it marks a genuine reckoning or a turn toward whatever the moment rewards is a question the record leaves open, and the years ahead will answer it more fully than any single broadcast.
Tucker Carlson Says He's Sorry for Backing Trump. Critics Say the Regret Is Opportunism
Criticizing Trump over Iran sells. For now.
Mark
Carlson says he's tormented and sorry. What exactly is he apologizing for?
Mimi
For misleading people into supporting Trump. He said on his April 20 episode, talking with his brother Buckley, that saying he changed his mind isn't enough.
Mark
And the Iran war is the reason?
Mimi
That's the reported cause. He opposes the war, and Trump's Easter Sunday post threatening Iran over the Strait of Hormuz seemed to bother him especially.
Luke
Worth noting this is an opinion column. The quote and the post are reported facts, but the claim that the apology is opportunism is the writer's judgment, not something shown.
Mark
The columnist points to his record, though.
Mimi
Yes: the Floyd claim, the Georgia fraud claim, the vaccine remark, and the Dominion texts where he said he hated Trump passionately yet pushed the rigged-election lie.
Luke
Those texts show he said things privately that differed from his on-air claims. They don't prove what he feels now. Motive is inference.
Mark
What about the claim Trump's popularity is bottoming out?
Luke
That's asserted without a figure here. I'd want a poll before leaning on it.
Mimi
The Rogan comparison is the column's pattern argument, and the Oval Office visit is concrete. Whether Carlson returns to Trump is still unknown.
Der Puls
- Carlson publicly apologized for leading his audience to support Trump, saying the regret would linger for a long time.
- The rupture traces to the Iran war, and a profane Easter Sunday post in which Trump threatened Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz.
- An Arizona Republic column dismisses the apology as opportunism, pointing to Carlson's history of false claims and a Fox News exit after a costly defamation settlement.
- Carlson's past reconciliation with Trump and his role in choosing JD Vance cast doubt on whether this split will hold.
- Trump has so far answered mainly with insults, and the columnist expects a reconciliation if Carlson sees it as good for business.
On an April evening that carried the weight of an ongoing war, Tucker Carlson sat with his brother and confessed, on his own podcast, that he regretted lending his voice to Donald Trump. The apology arrives shaped by a conflict over Iran and a career long accustomed to shifting with the currents of its time. Whether it marks a genuine reckoning or a turn toward whatever the moment rewards is a question the record leaves open, and the years ahead will answer it more fully than any single broadcast.
On Monday, April 20, Tucker Carlson sat across from his brother Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, on his own podcast and said he was sorry. He did not want to offer only a shrug and a changed mind. He said he would be haunted by it for a long time, and that he wanted to apologize for leading people to back Donald Trump.
The break centers on the war in Iran, which Carlson opposes. A profane Easter Sunday post by Trump, threatening Iran unless it reopened the Strait of Hormuz and adding "JUST WATCH," seemed to trouble him deeply. Carlson called Trump's behavior evil.
A column in The Arizona Republic meets that apology with deep suspicion. Its writer sees an opportunist who follows whatever sells, and reads Carlson's career as proof. It recalls his rise from magazine work to a bow tie on cable news, his humbling by Jon Stewart, and his later years at Fox, where he spread false claims about George Floyd, Georgia's 2020 vote, and the COVID-19 vaccine. Fox parted ways with him soon after a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, a case whose texts showed him promoting a rigged-election story he did not believe.
The columnist sees that history as the true context. Carlson later made peace with Trump and helped select JD Vance as vice president, and he still commands a large audience on the right. With Trump's popularity sliding, the columnist judges the timing convenient and predicts the new stance will not last. For now, the column argues, attacking Trump over Iran is good business. The thing to watch is whether Carlson's position shifts again if Trump's standing or the war's reception changes.
On Monday, April 20, Tucker Carlson sat across from his brother Buckley, a former Trump speechwriter, on his own podcast and said he was sorry. It was not enough, he told Buckley, to say he had changed his mind or that something was bad and he was out. He said he would be tormented by it for a long time, and that he wanted to apologize for misleading people into supporting Donald Trump.
The break, as reported, centers on the war in Iran, which Carlson opposes. One trigger appears to have been a profane Easter Sunday post by Trump on Truth Social. In it, Trump threatened Iran if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz, telling it to open the strait or live in Hell, and adding "JUST WATCH." The post seemed to bother Carlson especially, and he described Trump's behavior as evil.
This column in The Arizona Republic takes a sharply skeptical view of that apology. The writer calls Carlson an opportunist who follows whatever sells, and points to a long record. Carlson began as a magazine journalist, then moved to cable news in a bow tie. A confrontation with Jon Stewart, delivered to his face, ended both the bow tie and the CNN show he co-hosted. He later worked at the network once known as MSNBC and, most prominently, at Fox News.
At Fox, the column notes, he falsely claimed George Floyd died of a drug overdose after autopsies ruled the death a homicide. He asserted there was meaningful voter fraud in Georgia in 2020. He suggested the COVID-19 vaccine might not work and that officials were not telling the public.
Fox fired him not long after the network paid $787.5 million to settle a defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Texts revealed in that case showed Carlson saying harsh things about colleagues and about Trump, whom he said he hated passionately. They also showed him promoting the lie that the 2020 election was rigged, though he did not believe it.
The columnist argues that history is the context for the present apology. Carlson later made up with Trump and was instrumental in the selection of JD Vance as Trump's vice presidential pick. He remains a powerful figure on the right through his podcast. The writer suggests the timing is convenient, since Trump's popularity is sinking, and predicts the new stance will not last.
The column offers a parallel: Joe Rogan criticized Trump's declaration of war on Iran, yet was in the Oval Office on Saturday when Trump signed an executive order to speed federal review of psychedelic drugs for treating mental illness. Trump, for his part, has so far mostly complained about Carlson, calling him a low-IQ person who is easy to beat and highly overrated.
The writer's forecast is that Trump will eventually do something to please Carlson and pull him back, as long as Carlson judges it good for business. For now, the column says, criticizing Trump over Iran sells. What to watch is whether Carlson's stance moves again if Trump's standing or the war's reception changes.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
We'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people.— Tucker Carlson, on his April 20 podcast
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