Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson said he still does not hate President Donald Trump, even after the many insults the president has hurled at him in social media tirades amid their public MAGA breakup.
"I don't hate Trump. I hate this war and the direction that the U.S. government is taking," Carlson said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Saturday. "I feel betrayed."
Carlson, who was once a staunch ally of the president, has vocally criticized Trump amid his war in Iran. He joins other conservative personalities, including Alex Jones, Megyn Kelly, former Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Candace Owens in denouncing the president.
Public Feud and Apologies
The former allies have traded shots at each other amid the public split, with Carlson calling Trump a "slave" to Israel and apologizing for misleading people into voting for him in 2024.
"I do think it's, like, a moment to wrestle with our own consciences. We'll be tormented by it for a long time — I will be. And I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people," Carlson told his brother on Monday's episode of his show.
The president has insulted his conservative critics of the war, including Carlson, in multiple social media tirades, saying they have "Low IQs."
Reflections on Past Support
In his interview with the Journal, Carlson reminisced about his former support for the president. "I assumed he was sincere, and by the way, he may have been," Carlson said. After the 2024 election, he told the Journal, "Trump changed dramatically."
Carlson also told the Journal that the last time he walked into the Oval Office was in February, where the two argued over the war in the Middle East and where the president brought up the accusation that Carlson was an antisemite. According to Carlson, the president looked "sad and resigned," and he was left in disbelief.
The podcaster told the Journal that U.S. involvement in foreign wars was a "generational problem that didn't start with Trump," adding, "If anything, Trump just proved the system was stronger than him."
"Trump has proven his own point, unfortunately, which is that the people running your government are only about themselves," Carlson said.
