White House pans Tucker Carlson for telling Israeli TV Netanyahu dragged US into war

Administration calls right-wing podcaster a ‘low-IQ person’ after he tells Channel 13 Trump folded to pressure from Israel lobby and accuses ‘people’ in US media of working for Israeli government

The White House on Wednesday accused Tucker Carlson of spreading “fake news” a day after the controversial right-wing podcaster told an Israeli news station that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dragged the US into the war with Iran.

In a statement to Channel 13, the White House said Carlson “is a low-IQ person who spreads fake news for cheap publicity,” repeating a slur US President Donald Trump has used himself to describe the podcaster.

“Long before he was elected, President Trump has been consistent in his belief that Iran can never be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon,” the statement said. “Israel has always been a great ally to the United States, especially through Operations Midnight Hammer and Epic Fury that obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities and destroyed their defense industrial base. President Trump took bold, decisive action to protect the American people — something presidents have talked about for 47 years, but only this President has had the courage to address.”

Trump has vociferously denied that Netanyahu talked him into the war.

On Tuesday night, Channel 13 aired an interview with Carlson, in which he was asked about his shift on Trump, whom he formerly supported. Carlson asserted that Netanyahu, Israel supporters in the media, and donors pushed Trump into the war. He also accused Israel of murdering thousands of children in Gaza and entertained the possibility that Israel would try to harm him for his views, while also insisting he has “always liked Israel” and is not an antisemite.

Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28 in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes across the region, including at Israel, as well as by blockading the Strait of Hormuz, choking oil deliveries and rattling the global economy. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 8, but the strait remains blocked.

Carlson said war with Iran “is destructive to the US and the world.”

He accused Trump of “caving under the pressure” of Netanyahu and his many allies in the United States, asserting that “donors to Donald Trump, people in the media class here, were effectively working on behalf of the Israeli government.”

“The Israeli prime minister pushed the US president, who turned out to be far weaker than I understood, into a war that hurts the United States,” he claimed.

When the Channel 13 anchor referred to Iran as a “terror regime,” Carlson responded, “You should pause before using the phrase terror regime since you live in a country that just murdered thousands of children in Gaza” — a reference to widespread civilian deaths in the Gaza war, which was triggered by the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel insists it does not purposely target civilians and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

While asserting that Israel has the right to self-defense, Carlson said the country “has definitely lost its morality” and treats “Arabs like animals or sub-humans.”

But, he said, “it’s wrong that I’m paying for Israel’s actions. “There’s no reason the United States should be sending any money at all to Israel and particularly not to its military.”

Asked if he believes Israel would try to harm him because of his views, Carlson said, “Yes. I mean, of course, I don’t know. I hope not. I don’t want to be harmed,” and claimed that “Israel brags about assassinating people.”

In his podcast, “The Tucker Carlson Show,” the host regularly blasts Israel in terms that many describe as evoking classic antisemitic tropes. He has also, in the past, denied that Hamas is a terror group, saying it “seems more like a political organization.” He has also hosted avowed antisemites such as Nick Fuentes.

Carlson visited Israel in February to interview US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, who invited him for the talk after the podcaster criticized him on a show.

Israel initially considered barring Carlson from entering the country for the expected visit, but decided against the move so as not to cause a “diplomatic incident,” according to a Channel 13 report at the time.

After his brief visit, Carlson claimed the Israeli government targeted his family, called the Jewish state “probably the most violent country on earth,” and aired numerous antisemitic tropes.