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'You don't know anything about Iran!' Tucker Carlson grills Ted Cruz

Author: Zac Anderson Source: USA Today

June 18, 2025 at 13:52

Conservative media figure Tucker Carlson grilled Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Iran in a contentious exchange that is drawing attention to the divide between conservatives on military action in the country.

“How many people live in Iran by the way?” Carlson asked Cruz in an excerpt released June 17 from an interview for Carlson's online show.

Cruz, who recently said on Fox News it’s "very much in the interest of America to see regime change" in Iran, told Carlson he didn’t know the country’s population.

“You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?” Carlson continued.

Carlson continued to press Cruz, asking him the “ethnic mix of Iran.”

Cruz started to answer, saying Iranians are “Persians,” before Carlson interrupted him, asking him what percent and drawing protests from the senator.

“You don’t know anything about Iran!” Carlson said.

“I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran,” Cruz responded.

“You’re a senator whose calling for the overthrow of the government,” Carlson retorted.

Cruz’s comments about regime change in Iran put him at odds with some MAGA figures, including Carlson, who oppose efforts to topple the country’s leadership and have warned against President Donald Trump involving the U.S. in Israel’s air strikes on Iran, which began June 13.

Carlson, former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who sat near Trump in the VIP section at his military parade over the weekend, are among the MAGA stars pressing for the U.S. military to stay out of the fight, which they say is out of step with the movement's principles.

Tucker Carlson speaks at his Live Tour at the Desert Diamond Arena on October 31, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. Carlson grilled U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz on Iran in a recent interview. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

Greene said in a June 16 social media post that "foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke and will ultimately lead to our destruction.”

Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu June 17 as he weighs his next steps in the conflict. He also met with his top national security advisers in the White House Situation Room, having flown home from the G7 summit in Canada to focus on the conflict in the Middle East.

Contributing: Francesca Chambers