The outrage phase of Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson’s breakup continued apace Monday, as the longtime right-wing pundit and former Trump ally issued an apology for his role in misleading people and helping get him elected.
Carlson, who first rebuked Trump after the president’s widely criticized Easter morning social media post in which he threatened to annihilate Iran, ramped up his criticism on Monday’s episode of his show. Tucker Carlson Show. Speaking to his younger brother, Buckley Carlson — a Republican activist and former Trump speechwriter — the host spoke in a tone of personal reckoning.
“I wrote letters for him. I campaigned for him. I mean, we’re in this for sure,” Carlson said. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Okay, I’ve changed my mind,’ or to say, ‘Oh, that’s bad, I’m out.’”
He continued: “In very small ways, but in real ways, you, me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening now.” “So I think it’s a moment of struggle with our consciences. We’re going to be tormented by this for a long time. I will do that, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people – it wasn’t intentional.”
The conversation, which at times resembles a dissection of Trump’s political rise, revisits his early appeal. Buckley Carlson recalls being drawn to Trump in 2015 because he “never bowed down,” which led him to reach out to the campaign through back-and-forth connections and eventually writing letters to the outside candidate.
From there, the brothers trace Trump’s rise, lamenting what they describe as the erosion of traditional conservative values in favor of MAGA populism. Carlson was an early supporter and influencer, helping legitimize Trump’s first presidential run and later campaigning for him during the 2024 election.
The discussion also revisits the 2020 election, which Carlson’s family continues to describe as stolen — a claim that has been widely debunked — while criticizing Trump’s response at the time.
“He kept repeating ridiculous talking points that weren’t that convincing and made him look crazy,” Buckley Carlson said. “But he failed to use the power that was in his hand, and then, of course, it was taken away from him.”
The disagreement between Carlson and Trump has intensified in recent months, especially regarding foreign policy. He criticized the president’s full support for Israel’s actions against Iran, and previously described Trump’s rhetoric on the country as “despicable.”
Trump responded in a post on Truth Social, criticizing Carlson as a “low IQ person – always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!!” He expanded his attacks to include other right-wing figures, including Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and Alex Jones.
However, Carlson framed his criticism Monday as political and personal.
“Clearly there were signs of low character,” he said of Trump. “We knew that.” “But there are a lot of low-character people who outshine her. She’s outdone my own sometimes. I don’t have a particularly high character — but you do your best.”
