Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson expressed that he continues to not “hate” President Donald Trump, despite the president’s numerous online insults directed at him following their public separation from the MAGA movement.
“I don’t hate Trump. I hate this war and the direction that the U.S. government is taking,” Carlson stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Saturday. “I feel betrayed.”
Once an ardent supporter of Trump, Carlson has become a vocal critic, especially concerning Trump’s actions in Iran. He has joined other conservative figures such as Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly, former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Candace Owens in their disapproval of the president.
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The former allies have exchanged criticisms publicly, with Carlson labeling Trump as a “slave” to Israel and expressing regret for encouraging people to vote for him in 2024.
“I think we need to confront our own consciences. We’ll be troubled by this for a long time — I know I will be. And I want to apologize for misleading people,” Carlson conveyed to his brother on his show on Monday.
The president has retaliated against his conservative critics, including Carlson, in multiple social media outbursts, referring to them as having “Low IQs.”
In his conversation with the Journal, Carlson reflected on his earlier support for the president.
“I believed he was genuine, and he might have been,” Carlson remarked. He noted that following the 2024 election, “Trump changed dramatically.”
Carlson also shared with the Journal that his last visit to the Oval Office was in February, where they argued about the “war in the Middle East” and where the president accused Carlson of being an antisemite.
Carlson described the president as appearing “sad and resigned,” leaving him in disbelief.
The podcaster told the Journal that U.S. involvement in foreign wars is a “generational problem that didn’t start with Trump,” and added, “If anything, Trump just proved the system was stronger than him.”
“Trump has unfortunately demonstrated his own point, which is that the people running your government are only about themselves,” Carlson asserted.
