Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has faced a fierce backlash for claiming that Hamas is ‘more like a political organization’ than a terror group.
The 56-year-old commentator made the comment while speaking with Shahed Ghoreishi in the latest episode of The Tucker Carlson show clipped by Mediate.
Speaking about Hamas, Carlson said ‘They’re Islamist extremists… I don’t know if that’s true, by the way. Seems more like a political organization.’
The full context of the conversation is unclear because it seems to have been edited out of The Tucker Carlson show’s version on YouTube. The Daily Mail has reached out to the show for clarification.
Social media users were quick to pounce on the controversial statement made by Carlson, including his long-running nemesis, Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
‘What the hell is happening to Tucker?’ Cruz wrote on X as he shared the video. ‘He’s turning into Ilhan Omar.’
Omar has slammed Israel over its attacks on Palestine, and many people on the right consider the left-leaning ‘Squad’ member to be a Hamas sympathizer, though it’s unclear what the evidence for this is.
Some people on social media also compared Tucker to a ‘Squad’ member for his comment about the terror group.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson (pictured) has faced a fierce backlash for claiming that Hamas is ‘more like a political organization’ than a terror group
Pictured: Hamas militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel on October 7, 2023
‘Tucker is the latest member of “the Squad” or auditioning for his new role on NBC,’ one X user said, while another said: ‘The man is off his rocker!!!’
Hamas is recognized as a terror organization by countries including the US, the UK, Australian, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Israel and nations in the European Union.
The group is responsible for the horrific October 7 attack at the Nova music festival in Israel.
Militants killed 1,200 people at the while taking hundreds more hostage, and around 48 are still being held in horrific conditions in Gaza as their desperate families plead for their release.
Carlson’s views on the Israel-Palestine conflict has split Carlson from his fellow Republican firebrands in the past.
In June, the commentator said he wasn’t sure he could support the Republican party any longer after a Florida congressman called for Gaza to be nuked.
Congressman Randy Fine, who was recently elected to replace Mike Waltz in Florida as the preferred candidate of President Trump, made the jaw dropping comments in a Fox News interview last month.
Tucker Carlson has turned on a Trump-backed Republican after he called for Gaza to be nuked
Congressman Randy Fine, who was recently elected to replace Mike Waltz in Florida as the preferred candidate of President Trump (pictured together), made the jaw dropping comments in a Fox News interview last month
He said: ‘In World War 2 we did not negotiate a surrender with the Nazis, we did not negotiate a surrender with the Japanese.
‘We nuked the Japanese twice in order to get unconditional surrender. That needs to be the same here in Gaza.
‘There is something deeply wrong with its culture and it needs to be defeated.’
The extraordinary comments sparked widespread outrage and prompted a response from Hamas itself – the terror cell and de facto government in Gaza.
Carlson, speaking on his podcast alongside Glenn Greenwald, said he was so taken aback by the comments that he initially thought they couldn’t have been made by a real politician.
‘I text a friend of mine in Congress,’ Carlson said. ‘This is a person who I confirmed is a real person. I didn’t believe it at first… I didn’t believe he was really a member of Congress.’
‘It’s evil. How can you say something like that and not get expelled from Congress? How can that person still be in the Republican party?’
Carlson went on to say that Fine’s comments had made him question whether he could remain loyal to the Republican party.
‘I don’t know if I can support a party with someone like Randy Fine… that’s so disgusting.
‘So we’re gonna nuke Gaza because of its culture? We’re going to kill everyone because we don’t like their culture?’ he repeated incredulously.
‘There are Christians in Gaza. Muslims in Gaza. To say there is some Gazan culture that’s cohesive.’
Carlson has been one of MAGA’s most outspoken and high profile supporters, particularly loyal to Trump.
But Fine is a Jewish Trump-backed pick who won 83 percent of the Republican primary vote after the president’s endorsement.
‘Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, RANDY, RUN!’ Trump said at the time.
