On April 20, 2026, an episode of “The Tucker Carlson Show,” the former Fox News host sat down with his younger brother Buckley and delivered an unexpected apology for his role in Trump’s political rise. The once-combative media figure, who became one of Donald Trump’s most powerful allies, acknowledged the weight of his actions.
The feud has rippled through the broader Carlson family. Tucker’s son, also named Buckley, has departed his role as deputy press secretary in Vice President JD Vance’s office to launch his own political consulting firm. Though a Vance official said the younger Buckley had informed the VP’s office of his plans to leave back in December, the timing drew widespread attention, given the escalating war of words between his father and the president.
The 56-year-old broadcaster didn’t mince words about his own culpability. “You and I and everyone else who supported him, you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him, I mean, we’re implicated in this for sure,” Carlson told Buckley. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind,’ or like, ‘This is bad. I’m out.’ It’s like, in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now.”
Carlson addressed his audience directly with an apology: “I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional.”
What sparked this dramatic shift? Operation Epic Fury, Trump’s joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran that launched on Feb. 28, 2026, has torn apart the MAGA coalition that once stood firmly behind the president. The 38-day air campaign, which ended with a ceasefire on April 7, resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and destroyed more than 85 percent of Iran’s defense industrial base.
Carlson has described the operation as “absolutely disgusting and evil” and condemned it as a violation of Trump’s core promise to avoid foreign wars. He also accused the administration of launching the war exclusively to serve Israel’s interests and called Trump’s Easter morning social media post threatening Iran “vile on every level.”
During the podcast, Buckley Carlson escalated the criticism, labeling Trump an “out of control, megalomaniacal, destructive president” and suggesting lawmakers should “consider” invoking the 25th Amendment.
The broadcaster also acknowledged warning signs about Trump’s character that he chose to overlook. “Was this always the plan? You don’t want to be a conspiracy nut, but clearly, there were signs of low character,” he said. “We knew that. But there are tons of people of low character who outperform it.”
Trump responded with characteristic venom. In a 485-word Truth Social post on April 9, the president attacked Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones as “stupid people” with “low IQs.” Trump called Carlson specifically “a broken man” who “couldn’t even finish college” and was “never the same” after being fired from Fox News, recommending the podcaster should “see a good psychiatrist.”
Carlson later turned the insult into merchandise, selling baseball caps bearing the phrase “LOW IQ” in an apparent dig at the president.
But many observers see hypocrisy in Carlson’s newfound contrition. Private text messages that surfaced during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit revealed that just two days before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, Carlson wrote “I hate him (Trump) passionately” and called him “a demonic force, a destroyer,” on the day of the attack.
Fox News settled that lawsuit for $787.5 million. Days later, Carlson’s show was dropped from the network. He launched his own podcast and then, despite those private admissions, endorsed Trump for president in 2024 and campaigned for him.
The reaction online was merciless. Hosts on The View showed no sympathy. Sara Haines said Carlson “will literally do, say anything for money, for clicks, for power. That man just needs to disappear.” Joy Behar quipped that Carlson has “what they call liar’s remorse.”
A UMass Lowell poll conducted in late March showed Carlson’s favorability among Republicans has dropped to 31 percent. His podcast episode has drawn more than 500,000 views as of late April. Carlson was not alone in his break from Trump. Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Joe Rogan, and Candace Owens have all, in varying degrees, publicly criticized the president over the Iran war and other issues. But none have gone as far as Carlson in accepting personal blame for putting Trump back in power.