WASHINGTON — US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee scoffed Tuesday at a verbal attack from Tucker Carlson, in which the right-wing pundit accused him of suffering from the “brain virus” of Christian Zionism.
During a sitdown with white nationalist Nick Fuentes,Carlson had name-dropped Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former National Security Adviser John Bolton, longtime GOP strategist Karl Rove, and former President George W. Bush as examples of people he dislikes “more than anybody” for their staunch support of Israel.
“Wasn’t aware that Tucker despises me. I do get that a lot from people not familiar with the Bible or history,” Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, responded on X. “Somehow, I will survive the animosity.”
Carlson, 56, and Huckabee, 70, are former colleagues at Fox News, with both hosting eponymous programs on the cable news giant.
On Monday, Carlson dropped an episode of his podcast featuring Fuentes, a far-right 27-year-old who has groused that “the GOP is run by Jews, atheists, and homosexuals.”
During the interview, Fuentes pitched his bizarre theory that neoconservatism arose from “Jewish leftists who were mugged by reality when they saw the surprise attack in the Yom Kippur War [in 1973].”
“How do you explain Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz … who I have seen be seized by this brain virus, and they’re not Jewish. Most of them are self-described Christians. And they’re Christian Zionists,” Carlson asked Fuentes in response.
“Like what is that? I can just say that for myself, I dislike them more than anybody because … it’s Christian heresy and I’m offended by that as a Christian.”
Fuentes previously declared in 2023 that “I think the Holocaust is exaggerated,” a sentiment he has echoed multiple times.
“I don’t hate Hitler. I think there’s a Jewish conspiracy. I believe in race realism,” he added, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Carlson’s interview with Fuentes came after years of him souring on US support for Israel, accusing the American ally of meddling in domestic politics and raising concerns about the plight of Christians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Earlier this year, Carlson got into a spat with Cruz over his support of Israel during a heated interview with the Texas senator. The former “Tucker Carlson Tonight” host has also invited guests such as historian Darryl Cooper, who has argued that Winston Churchill, not Adolf Hitler, was the main “villain” of World War II.
“Mike Huckabee is a pastor and a patriot who loves America, loves Israel, and loves Jesus. I’m proud to be in his company!” Cruz posted on X in response to Carlson’s dig at him and Huckabee.
“Thanks @tedcruz for the nice words,” the ambassador answered. “You sure treat me better than Tucker and Fuentes! May the icing on your cake be piled high!”
Fuentes and Carlson had previously been at loggerheads prior to Monday’s interview, with Fuentes publicly mocking Carlson for claiming he only discovered his late father’s work for the CIA after his passing.
During an interview with Candace Owens earlier this year, Carlson alleged — without evidence — that Fuentes was a federal agent of some sort.
The former Fox News host also complained that Fuentes had taken public shots at Vice President JD Vance, for whom Carlson’s son works, and bashed him as a “weird little gay kid in his basement.”
“I’m sorry I called you gay, by the way, but I’m always, I think I’m just too old or something. I’m like, ‘Why [isn’t] anyone married?’” Carlson said during his sitdown with Fuentes.
The two also bonded about how they thought the other was a fed.
