Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — who's found himself at odds with President Donald Trump and ex-Fox colleagues in recent days — and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) over the senator's knowledge — or perceived lack thereof — of the country he "seeks to topple."
Carlson shared on X a nearly two-minute clip of his tense interview with Cruz, who has consistently advocated for a hardline U.S. stance against Iran and has supported various forms of U.S. involvement targeting the Iranian regime. Recently, Cruz explicitly called for regime change in Iran, saying: “I think it is very much in the interest of America to see regime change. I don’t think there’s any redeeming the ayatollah."
"How many people live in Iran by the way?" Carlson asked the senator.
When Cruz said he didn't know the population of Iran, Carlson appeared stunned.
"At all?" he asked.
"No, I don't know the population," Cruz replied.
"You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?" Carlson pushed back, pointedly.
When Cruz tried to turn the tables on the host, asking the same question, Carlson confidently replied, about 92 million.
"How could you not know that?" Carlson retorted.
"I don't sit around memorizing population tables," Cruz shot back.
"Well, it's kind of relevant because you're calling for the overthrow of the government," Carlson replied.
Cruz attacked Carlson's line of questioning, demanding to know why it's relevant that he knows such a fact.
"Because you don't know anything about the country," Carlson said, as Cruz bristled.
"I didn't say I didn't know anything about the country," Cruz fired back.
But Carlson continued pressing the senator.
"What's the ethnic mix of Iran?" he asked.
Cruz, visibly frustrated, took a moment, then replied, "They are Persians, predominantly Shia — ok. This is cute. Ok."
That's when the interview turned into a shouting match.
"No, it's not even — you don't know anything about Iran! So actually, the country — " Carlson shouted at his guest.
The attack prompted Cruz to offer a tepid defense that he's "not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran."
And Carlson let him have it.
"You're a senator who's calling for the overthrow of their government and you don't know anything about their country!" he yelled.
Cruz forcefully shot back, "No, you don't know anything about the country. You're the one who claims they're not trying to murder Donald Trump" — an accusation Carlson denied — "who can't figure out if it was a good idea to kill General [Qasem] Soleimani. You said it was bad."
Carlson again attacked the senator, accusing him of not believing Iran sought to assassinate Trump.
"You're not calling for military strikes against them in retaliation," Carlson began, as Cruz tried to insist the U.S. was "carrying out military strikes today." He immediately clarified that Israel is leading airstrikes with U.S. support.
Carlson immediately seized on Cruz's gaffe.
"Well, you're breaking news here because the U.S. government last night denied ... that we were acting on Israel's behalf in any offensive capacity at all."
Cruz tried to walk back his statement, noting Israel is bombing Iran. But Carlson again came after the staunch Trump ally.
"You just said we were? This is high stakes," Carlson said, cracking a smirk. "You're a senator. If you're saying the United States government is at war with Iran right now, people are listening!"
Watch the tense exchange below or at this link.
Ted Cruz on Iran. Full interview tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hJNwAHAnxZ
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 18, 2025
