
Former Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who suggested that the U.S. “drop Israel” after the country initiated missile strikes against Iran on Friday, released his one-on-one interview with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) today.
Cruz is in favor of Israel’s missile strikes against Iran, which target Iranian nuclear facilities and military ranks.
As seen below, Carlson questioned Cruz’s knowledge of Iran and laughs at the Senator for not knowing the country’s population and for mistakenly saying that the U.S. was bombing Iran.
Cruz backtracked and said he meant “with our help. I said ‘we’ but Israel is leading, we’re supporting.”
Carlson responded: “You’re breaking news here because the U.S. government last night denied that — the National Security Council spokesperson denied on behalf of Trump that we were acting on Israel’s behalf in any offensive capacity.”
When Cruz again tried to clarify, “We’re not bombing them, Israel is bombing them. We are supporting them,” Carlson looked at the camera and said, “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.”
Ted Cruz on Iran. Full interview tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hJNwAHAnxZ
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 18, 2025
Democrats including political pundit Jo Fernandez are relishing the embarrassment of Cruz. As she replied: “Is it possible to absolutely loathe Tucker Carlson and enjoy the [expletive] out of watching him destroy Ted Cruz at the same time? Asking for a friend.”
GOP strategist David Reaboi, who engaged in a heated exchange on X with Vice President JD Vance yesterday about the potential involvement of the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict, replied to Carlson: “Man up and have @benshapiro on.”
UPenn antisemitism college activist Eyal Yakoby also replied: “Why did you duck a debate with Ben Shapiro?”
Not all Republicans agree with Reaboi and Yakoby’s urging to get Carlson and Shapiro on the same stage. As Marcus Schuff, an Iraq War veteran and Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Riverside County, California, replied: “Ben Shapiro will end up looking like a fool too. They’re both starting from an untenable position. There’s no amount of talk that can make the illogical logical.”
Note: In May 2024, Schuff told CNN that he planned to vote Libertarian in the 2024 presidential election based on Trump’s first administration.
“And [Trump’s] foreign policy wasn’t great either. I don’t think we should be assassinating Iranian generals in Iraq,” Schuff said, referring to the 2020 drone strike ordered by Trump that killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.