Tucker Carlson is getting candid about his fallout with Donald Trump, his infamous interview with Nick Fuentes, Erika Kirk and more.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times published Saturday, the former Fox News host opened up about his break with Trump over the Iran war, explained why he believes the president casts a “spell” on those around him, clarified past comments about previously suggesting Trump could be the “Antichrist,” shared his theory that Trump could legalize cannabis to lower testosterone levels and reflected on Erika Kirk and his regrets over interviewing far-right commentator Nick Fuentes.
Carlson was a prominent player in cable news for decades, hosting shows on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News before he was abruptly ousted from Fox in 2023 shortly after the network settled its defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, though Fox said the decision was unrelated.
Since his exit, Carlson has forged a new life in digital media, capitalizing on fractured audiences while expanding his brand into other ventures, including a book imprint announced last month.
Here are some of his most eyebrow-raising comments from the interview.
Addressing why he previously said he was “sorry for misleading people,” Carlson pointed to Trump’s decisions in Iran.
“The ticket of admission to the conversation is admitting when you are wrong,” Carlson said. “I spent 10 years defending Trump on Fox News. I’d probably do it again, because on the issues I agree with him… I told people this guy will keep us out of the next Iraq, specifically will keep us out of a regime-change war with Iran… And here we are in the middle of a regime-change war in Iran… so I’m sorry.”
When asked about previously invoking the “Antichrist” in relation to Trump, Carlson repeatedly denied ever directly calling him that, saying “I have not said that,” however, The New York Times pointed to past footage in which he asked: “Could this be the Antichrist?”
“I don’t know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips because I’m not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is, if there’s just one,” Carlson responded. “I actually tried to understand it. I may have said some are asking that. I am not weighing in on that because I don’t understand it, just to be totally clear.”
Carlson also described Trump as having a “spellbinding” presence.
“There is a kind of quality that he has that’s spellbinding,” he said. “And I think it probably literally is a spell… You spend a day with Trump and you’re in this kind of dreamland. It’s like smoking hash or something. It’s interesting, very interesting. And there may be a supernatural component to it.”
He went on to speculate that Trump could legalize cannabis as a way to “lower testosterone levels” and make people “more passive,” adding, “Have some more benzos, it’s fine. Because it’s not fine, is the truth.”
He also expressed his own theories about the damage he believes has come to many people in Trump’s orbit.
“One thing that has bothered me for many years is the fact that a lot of people in Trump’s immediate orbit have been hurt,” Carlson said. “Gone to prison, become unemployable, publicly shamed, have gotten cancer. And I am a believer in big-picture assessments of things. So you’re trying to think, Is Trump good or bad? He’s saying things I really agree with. But then people around him are getting hurt. Is the country actually getting better? I don’t know.”
Reflecting on his October interview with Fuentes, Carlson admitted, “I wish I hadn’t done the Fuentes interview.”
“It was totally not worth it,” he said, adding that it distracted from pressing conversations about Iran. “I added to the distraction. What I really wanted to talk about was where we were going in this war with Iran. And I spent like a month getting calls from people being like, ‘You’re a Nazi!’ And I wish I hadn’t done that. It didn’t imperil my soul.”
He added: “The only person I’ve really been impolite with is Ted Cruz, because I have limited self-control and he’s just so repulsive. I couldn’t control myself. And I was a jerk, and I tried to apologize.”
Carlson also addressed his relationship with Turning Point USA following Charlie Kirk’s murder in September, saying he still cares deeply for Erika Kirk and remains concerned about the investigation.
“I have always loved Erika Kirk,” Carlson said. “my concern more broadly is about the investigation into Charlie’s murder, which was short-circuited by the F.B.I. And I’d like to know why.”
Alex Weprin contributed to this story.