Tucker Carlson clashed with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in a heated exchange during an interview set to air Wednesday, delivering a stinging rebuke to the senator reminiscent of their past confrontations.
Cruz appeared in person on Carlson’s show on X, which the former Fox News host teased Tuesday night. The discussion focused on the possibility of U.S. military intervention in Iran amid Israel’s ongoing attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear program, including strikes on nuclear scientists and senior military officials.
Carlson warned against U.S. involvement, while Cruz strongly supported joining Israel’s conflict.
Israel, which reportedly possesses undisclosed nuclear weapons, claims its goal is to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities, though Iran insists its program is for civilian use — which even the Internationl Atomic Energy Agency refutes. Cruz and other Republican lawmakers have urged President Donald Trump to consider even overthrowing the Iranian regime.
Here’s how the fiery exchange went:
CARLSON: How many people are living in Iran, by the way?
CRUZ: I don’t know the population.
CARLSON: At all?
CRUZ: No, I don’t know the population.
CARLSON: You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?
CRUZ: How many people live in Iran?
CARLSON: Ninety-two million.
CRUZ: Ok. Yeah, I–
CARLSON: How could you not know that?
CRUZ: I don’t sit around memorizing population tables.
CARLSON: Well, it’s kind of relevant because you’re calling for the overthrow of the government.
CRUZ: Why is it relevant, whether it’s 90 million or 80 million or 100 million? Why is that relevant?
CARLSON: Well, because if you don’t know anything about the country–
CRUZ: I didn’t say I don’t know anything about the country.
CARLSON: Ok, what’s the ethnic mix of Iran?
CRUZ: They are Persians and predominantly Shia–
CARLSON: What percent?
CRUZ: Ok, this is cute. Ok–
CARLSON: You don’t know anything about Iran. So, actually, the country–
CRUZ: Ok, I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran, who says–
CARLSON: You’re a senator who’s calling for the overthrow of the government and you don’t know anything about the country!
CRUZ: No, you don’t know anything about the country. You’re the one who claims they’re not trying to murder Donald Trump.
CARLSON: No, I’m not saying that.
CRUZ: You’re one who can’t figure out if it was a good idea to kill General Soleimani, and you said it was bad.
CARLSON: You don’t believe they’re trying to murder Trump–
CRUZ: Yes, I do!
CARLSON –because you’re not calling for military strikes against them in retaliation. And if you really believe that–
CRUZ: We’re carrying out military strikes today.
CARLSON: You said Israel was.
CRUZ: Right, with our help. I said “we.” Israel is leading them, but we’re supporting them.
CARLSON: Well this, you’re breaking news here because the U.S. government last night denied – the National Security Council – spokesman Alex Pfeiffer denied on behalf of Trump that we were acting on Israel’s behalf in any offensive capacity at all.
CRUZ: No, we’re not bombing them. Israel’s bombing them
CARLSON: You just said “we” were.
CRUZ: We are supporting Israel–
CARLSON: This is high stakes. You’re a senator. If you’re saying the United States government is at war with Iran right now, people are listening.
WATCH:
The issue of deeper U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations against Iran has been deeply divisive for Trump’s base of support, with many seeking to keep American military forces out of direct combat.
For his part, Trump met for about an hour with his National Security Council Tuesday evening to discuss the situation after returning early from the G7 summit in neighboring Canada earlier this week.
Israel’s operations against Iran’s nuclear and air defense sites continued into Wednesday, reports said.
