Since the war in Gaza broke out in 2023, Tucker Carlson has argued that U.S. support for Israel should be reconsidered. His criticism of Israel, including its military actions and how the conflict is being reported, has many conservatives saying he has left the reservation.
His recent interview with Ambassador Mike Huckabee, where he pressed biblical claims about Israel's territorial rights, has sparked further controversy, coming across as combative, aggressive, performative, and even antisemitic.
"Does Israel have the right to that land?" Carlson asked Huckabee. "You're appealing to Genesis; You're saying that's the original deed."
"It would be fine if they took it all," the ambassador responded.
Huckabee clarified that Israel is not looking to conquer all the land it is due; it just wants peace and security in the land it currently owns.
"We're talking about this land that the state of Israel now lives in and wants to have peace in," he stated.
After the interview, podcaster and Newsmax host Todd Starnes told American Family Radio that the former Fox News host is no longer the conservative icon he once was.
"Tucker Carlson has changed his position on a lot of issues," Starnes noted. "His belief system is contrary to that of biblical teaching."
Carlson, who has had to walk back statements and apologize for saying Israeli President Isaac Herzog had been on Jeffrey Epstein's so-called "pedophile island," has also used his recent experience in Israel to criticize the country's openness and tolerance.
He maintains he is no antisemite, but Starnes says Carlson continues to rev up his anti-Israel base.
"Now Tucker and his supporters are attacking Gov. Huckabee," Starnes relayed. "Gov. Huckabee has done nothing but espouse what we all believe as fellow Christians."
Meanwhile, as Huckabee assured Carlson, he is "a person of the book" who believes in the Old and New Testaments.
"What makes us who we are is our adherence to the scripture – our belief that the Bible, all of it … is the Word of the living God," he said of Christians.
