Tucker Carlson is a man who seems to be passing through phases more rapidly than Taylor Swift. He saw a meteoric rise in popularity in the post-COVID world and has become a prominent and influential right-wing celebrity. I remember seeing clips of Tucker gain online attention and thinking, “The bow-tie guy? I wonder what his message is going to be.” For those of us who have been paying attention, that answer seems impossible to definitively identify.
My first impression of Tucker was that of a B-rate news personality who generally marched in-line with establishment Republican ideology of the 2008 era. When Trump’s movement shook-up the political and media status quo, Tucker seemed to define himself as a MAGA warrior, although he always seemed calculated – like a man who was willing to go as far as he safely could without risking his career or reputation.
In recent years, Tucker has played a new hand of cards – he has become an apologist for Vladimir Putin, an opponent of Benjamin Netanyahu, and a friend to Nick Fuentes. This truly bizarre career trajectory inspired me to examine a few cases which drive us to consider that question I had years ago: Who is Tucker Carlson and what is his message all about? The answer is even more difficult to pin down than you might think.
As recently as 2017, Tucker issued a somber warning by saying, “A lot of Americans are concerned about Sharia Law…A strikingly large number of Muslims would like to see it supplant civil law…In every Muslim majority country in the world, non-Muslims have fewer rights.” In the same news segment, Tucker would accurately state, “Women have, in the Quran, fewer rights than men do.” These statements are reflective of the traditionalist, Western, Christian-influenced view – which is deadest against accepting the demonic and anti-freedom practices of Sharia Law into our homeland.
In the past year, though, Tucker has changed his tune. Inexplicably, Tucker now mocks those who are concerned about the threats posed by Sharia Law, sarcastically stating, “Sharia Law is bad, Seth, I don’t know if you’ve heard that. It’s worse than what’s happening in New York and Detroit, it’s just bad,” before crumpling over in uncontrolled laughter on video.
Tucker continued his heavily sarcastic rant by saying, “You can tell when you go to a place like Abu Dhabi… Oh man, I hope we don’t ever end up with a society like this. Oh boy, I hope we don’t end up with that. You know? Shut up. Sharia Law! Sharia Law!” At this point in the video, Tucker again breaks out into a high-pitched laughter.
What are we to believe Tucker Carlson thinks of Sharia Law? Well, 8 years ago he seemed sober-minded about the very real threat posed by Sharia and its violent supporters. Today, while Tucker insists he doesn’t necessarily want Sharia Law, he seems to think that people who are concerned about its influence are worthy of mockery and dismissal.
In 1999, Tucker had what may be described as a well-balanced view of Israel. He explained his view on camera by saying, “It’s perfectly valid to question Americas relationship with Israel; Israel has a lobby, it’s perfectly fair, as far as I am concerned, to beat up on Israel’s lobby. But I don’t think that’s the reason Buchanan is being labeled an antisemite. It’s this kind of, as I’ve said, this relentless bringing up topics related to Judaism…” After pointing out double-standards used against Jews and saying that Buchannan hadn’t explicitly said he disliked Jews nor that he believed they were sinister (things which Nick Fuentes has affirmed), Tucker continued, “[He’s] constantly attacked Israel, attacked American Jews for supporting Israel… implied that American Jews push America into wars, non-Jews die…There really is…a pattern with Pat Buchannan of needling the Jews. Is that antisemitic? Yeah.”
However, in 2025, Tucker seems confused by the standards he himself once held. The very idea that someone might find Tuckers own constant needling of all things Jewish questionable seems absurd to Tucker. Even more strange, though, Tucker seemed dumbfounded that people might strongly object to the openly pro-Hitler ideas shared by Nick Fuentes. Tucker seemed to have harsher words for the relatively mild-mannered Pat Buchannan in 1999 than he did for the man who has openly proclaimed, “Hitler was awesome. Hitler was right. And the holocaust didn’t happen!” in 2025.
If you were under the impression that Tucker’s flip-flopping and apparent amnesia were limited to incidents which happened over a significant amount of time, you would be incorrect. During an interview with Piers Morgan in 2025, Tucker seemed to have a bad case of brain fog when Piers made a strikingly simple point by saying, “America is supporting Israel because it’s an ally.”
Tucker’s absurd-on-its-face response was, “I don't even know what those words mean... I don't know what it means to be an ally.” Tucker miraculously was able to identify the word ‘ally’ in speaking to his friend Megyn Kelly, when he recently said, “Qatar is like one of our closest allies in the world...They're a close ally of ours.”
His sentiment was doubled-down on March 7, 2025, when during an interview with Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Tucker said, "One of the reasons I wanted to come here was to understand why people are mad at you. And I think you've got the biggest overseas U.S. air base right near here. So you're clearly a U.S. ally."
Alright, so when speaking with Piers Morgan, Tucker was flabbergasted at the use of the word ‘ally’ and its application to Israel. But when speaking to Megyn Kelly and Qatari nationals about Qatar, which is an Islamic state and a sponsor of terrorism, Tucker managed to hone in on exactly what the word ‘ally’ means. How strange. I hope his memory and comprehension issues get sorted out!
Okay, so Tucker has flip-flopped a few times and has had some convenient cases of forgetfulness – but he’s as MAGA as they come, right? America First! Well…that depends whether we are talking about public Tucker or private Tucker.
Tucker has spoken glowingly about Trump and the MAGA movement for years – as a matter of fact, it’s how he got his late-career boost and built a cult-like following. But in private, Tucker wasn’t the Tucker that MAGA had come to know. During a lawsuit, it was demonstrated that Tucker sent a private text message in January of 2021 stating, "We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait," followed by, "I hate him passionately."
Wow. That is not exactly subtle, is it?
While Tucker built his brand off saying things like, “I love Trump” he sings a different song in private, behind closed doors, and in personal text messages when he thinks nobody is watching. This should be all the more concerning to MAGA supporters when we remember that Tucker was overtly celebrating the results of a shady election and the ongoing political demonization of Trump which was happening in 2021.
In the past week, during his soft-ball, puff-piece, shallow interview of Hitler apologist Nick Fuentes, Tucker said, “Christian Zionists, like what is that? I can just say for myself, I dislike them more than anybody... Because it's Christian heresy.” This statement is noteworthy for several reasons. Fist, Charlie Kirk – who Tucker memorialized – was a Christian Zionist.
Millions of Americans are Christian Zionists. And Tucker stated, in clear and unambiguous terms, that he dislikes them ‘more than anybody’. More than Islamic extremists. More than communist authoritarians. More than Hitler supporters like Nick Fuentes – above all those threats, Tucker dislikes Christian Zionists most of all.
Second, Christian Zionism is not heresy. To be a Christian literally means to be a follower and imitator of Christ, and to be a Zionist means to believe that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive in any sense.
Mere days later, after receiving heavy blowback for his overall demeanor in the interview with Nick, Tucker sought to clear the table by saying, “I said something to the effect of; I despise Christian Zionists. And I'm just sorry that I said that because I don't...They're like really good people and sweet people.” Tucker went on to explain that when he’s mad, he says things he doesn’t mean.
I have two problems with this explanation: 1) Tucker didn’t seem mad at all when he made the original statement. He was relaxed, happy, and safe in a conversation which saw him and Nick Fuentes mutually affirming one another all the way through. Tucker appeared to be calmly and clearly stating exactly what he meant, not lashing out in anger. 2) When was the last time that you, in a fit of rage, accidentally called a person who you think is ‘good and sweet’ a heretic and someone who you dislike more than anybody? In my life experience, that just doesn’t happen.
Tucker is the champion of choice for many on the emerging Woke Right. My concern is that Tucker, like his counterparts Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens, seems to be an opportunist. He appears to be a chameleon who will do and say whatever is necessary to build and preserve his base – whatever keeps the cash and the clicks flowing. I don’t really know who he is – neither do you – and that should concern you if he is among your most trusted sources of worldview-forming information.
