Fireworks erupted during an interview involving two of the most prominent leaders in the conservative movement as the split on U.S. involvement in Iran grows.
On Tuesday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) sat down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for an exclusive interview which quickly became heated. The topic centered around what actions, if any, the U.S. should take to topple the Iranian regime as it battles Israel.
As TGP readers know, Carlson has accused Trump of enabling Israel’s preemptive strikes on Iran, saying sustained U.S. arms support made America morally responsible for the attack. Cruz has largely sided with Trump and warned Iran that it should expect overwhelming force if it decides to attack the U.S. military.
At one point in the interview, Carlson decided to test Cruz’s knowledge of Iran with a pointed yet seemingly important question: how many people live in the country?
Cruz replied he did not know which Carlson feigned surprise over. It got worse for Cruz when he tried to turn the tables on Carlson.
An angry Cruz then started arguing with the former Fox News host regarding the relevance of the question, to which Carlson responded that he knows nothing about the country he is seeking to overthrow.
Carlson then asked him about the ethnic mix of Iran. As Cruz started to answer, Carlson cut him off by again stating that Cruz knew nothing about the country.
Cruz then snapped completely and raised his voice, claiming it was Carlson who knew nothing about Iran and accused him of misleading his audience about the fact that the Iranian regime had tried to kill Trump before.
WATCH:
Ted Cruz on Iran. Full interview tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/hJNwAHAnxZ
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 18, 2025
Relevant Transcript:
CARLSON: “How many people live in Iran, by the way?
CRUZ: ‘I don’t know the population.
CARLSON: “At all?” “You don’t know the population of the people you’re trying to topple?” Carlson inquired.
CRUZ: How many people live in Iran?
CARLSON: 92 million. How could you not know that?
CRUZ: I don’t sit around memorizing population tables.
CARLSON: It’s kind of relevant because you’re calling for the overthrow of the government.
CRUZ: Why is it relevant whether it’s 90 million or 80 million?
CARLSON: Because if you don’t know anything about the country…
CRUZ: I didn’t say I don’t know anything about Iran.
CARLSON: What’s the ethnic mix of Iran?
CRUZ: They are Persians, predominantly Shia…You know what?
CARLSON: You don’t know anything about Iran!
CRUZ: Okay, I’m not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran.
CARLSON: You’re the Senator who is calling for the overthrow of the government and you don’t know anything about the country!
CRUZ: No, you don’t know anything about the country. You’re the one who claims they’re not trying to murder Donald Trump! You’re the one who can’t figure out if it was a good idea to kill General Soleimani.
Cruz furiously responded to the interview in a post on X accusing Carlson of asking a gotcha question and telling everyone to watch the entire interview.
The Texas senator went to say Tucker attacks Trump, the AIPAC lobby and alleges Iran is not trying to kill Trump throughout the two hour discussion.
Did a long interview w/ Tucker. He released a snippet playing a “gotcha” on the population of Iran. I declined to play that silly game.
WATCH the full 2-hr interview, where Tucker ATTACKS Trump, attacks the “AIPAC lobby,” & falsely claims Iran is NOT trying to assassinate Trump. pic.twitter.com/ELRVMKR75Q
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 18, 2025
