Right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson, who made his name on Fox News before he was fired three years ago, said he is leaving the Republican Party as he diverges further from the GOP establishment.
“I’m out,” he said on the Can’t Be Censored podcast. “And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out.”
The episode was released on Thursday, but his admission didn’t catch public attention until Monday after the Kamala Harris-aligned Headquarters X account posted the relevant clip.
“I would not support the Republican Party. There’s no chance I would support the Republican Party,” Carlson said, adding that he won’t support the Democratic Party either.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do. But at this point, how could you support, how could I or any American voter support a political party that’s not loyal to the United States, that puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens?” he continued, alluding to long-standing U.S. support for Israel.
Carlson is one conservative media figure who has become disenchanted by President Donald Trump due to the Iran war, which the conservative podcaster argues contradicts Trump’s “America First” agenda. He has blamed the war on Israeli influence, suggesting Trump is beholden to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has denied accusations of antisemitism.
While noting he has been a “very consistent defender” of the Republican Party for 35 years, Carlson suggested the party no longer has a moral compass.
“There’s no defending this because it’s immoral, and it’s exactly the opposite of what a political party in a democracy is charged with doing, which is representing its own voters, its own citizens, its own nation, and they’re not doing that,” he said of Republicans.
After Carlson’s comments went viral, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene issued a message in support.
“Tucker is not the only one who is done supporting the Republican Party,” Greene posted on X. “There is A LOT of us that are absolutely fed up and will not support a party that betrays its voters and country. That does not mean we are turning into Democrats either. But we are DONE with the America LAST Republican Party.”
Regarding the U.S.-Iran peace talks, Carlson previously called the 14-point memorandum of understanding a “pretty humiliating loss” for the United States.
The Iran war has been the source of friction between conservative commentators and the president for months. In April, Trump directly criticized Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones for doubting him and having “low IQs.”