Tucker Carlson mocked President Donald Trump Wednesday over his relentless threats against Iran throughout the war, with the right-wing podcaster at one point declaring, “Shut up, bitch.”
Carlson sat down with podcaster Jack Neel for an interview where the host asked why his guest believes Trump “decided to end the war right now.”
“’Cause he’s staring down the barrel of, like, commodities prices that are not sustainable,” Carlson answered. “Trump is super sophisticated about certain things, and obviously buffoonish in other ways, but he’s not stupid and he’s not senile.”
The president announced earlier this month that his administration had reached a preliminary peace deal with Iran after months of agricultural and economic concerns caused by the conflict. The deal has sparked criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.
Carlson told Neel that, after the administration’s initial attacks on Iran, Trump “knew” he had made a “massive” mistake.
“We could get hurt doing this, and there was no obvious military solution. I mean, he’s, again, he knew that. And so he tried to posture his way out of it,” Carlson argued, imitating Trump blustering, “We’re going to eliminate you.”
Trump repeatedly threatened military strikes against Iran and its people even at times when the two countries were on the cusp of an agreement. In April, the president received major backlash for threatening that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was not reached.
According to Carlson, Iran eventually “reached the same conclusion that everyone on the globe reached, which is this guy’s not strong, he’s weak,” noting that “strong people don’t brag about how strong they are.”
The former Trump ally, who recently said he is breaking away from the Republican Party, reflected on the words of his father, who was once a boxer, and “would always say there are two types of guys, and you gotta be careful of the second.”
The “first” type of guy is those “who are like, ‘What’d you say? Uh, what’d you say? Say it again.’ You know, push you in the chest. You don’t have to worry about those guys,” Carlson said. “And then there are the guys who don’t say anything, just knock you cold, hit you in the face with a beer bottle and keep hitting you. Like, those are the people you need to be afraid of. They’re not the posturers. They’re not the braggers.”
Carlson placed Trump in the first category.
“Trump is very much ‘What’d you say?!’” Carlson said mockingly. “Shut up, bitch. I don’t take you seriously. No, I’m not being mean. But like, come on.”