Tucker Carlson expressed deep regret over his backing of President Donald Trump, saying in a video released Monday that he would be haunted by the decision and apologizing for misleading his audience.
"I will be tormented by it for a long time," Carlson said during an episode of his show, adding that he felt responsible for the consequences of his past advocacy. "I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional."
The former Fox News host, speaking with his brother Buckley Carlson, said the moment demanded personal reckoning. Simply disavowing Trump after the fact was insufficient, he argued, because supporters like himself bore real responsibility for his rise. "You and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now," Carlson said.
Carlson pointed specifically to his role in promoting Trump, acknowledging that "we're implicated in this for sure."
His reversal has come into sharp focus over Trump's handling of conflict with Iran. The president is contending with his lowest job approval rating during his second term, with Americans citing inflation and cost of living as persistent concerns. Carlson previously urged the White House to prevent civilian casualties and criticized a recent Trump post about Iran as "vile."
Trump fired back swiftly, posting on Truth Social that Carlson and other defectors share a common trait: "Low IQs." The president called them "stupid people" and said their families knew it too. In an earlier statement to the New York Post, Trump labeled Carlson "a low-IQ person" unfamiliar with current events.
Carlson is far from the only prominent Trump ally to break ranks in recent weeks. Right-wing figures including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have called for invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump. Carrie Prejean Boller, who served on a Trump-appointed religious liberty commission until February, called him an "evil psychopath." Influential right-wing personality Candace Owens described the Trump administration as "satanic."
Podcasters have joined the chorus. Joe Rogan said in March that Trump supporters felt betrayed by military escalation with Iran. Theo Von questioned whether the conflict benefited ordinary Americans. Even before the Iran situation flared, prominent podcasters had criticized Trump on immigration, the Epstein files, and U.S.-Israeli policy.
Carlson left Fox News in 2023 after the network settled a defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. His son, also named Buckley Carlson, recently left his position in Vice President JD Vance's press office to launch his own firm.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Carlson's self-flagellation rings hollow when his former influence shaped millions of voters, but at least he's naming the cost of cheerleading an unpredictable leader."
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