Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has accused Tucker Carlson of conducting a ‘disrespectful’ interview with her father Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel.
Sanders, who served as Donald Trump’s White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019, said she was ‘disappointed not only in the style but also what he is pushing.’
‘What I don’t like is the dishonesty and the manner in which he conducted the interview. I didn’t think he was very respectful for somebody who was willing to sit down and have that conversation,’ Sanders told Politico.
Carlson interviewed Huckabee on X on February 20 amid ratcheting tensions with Iran and fierce debate over whether the US was being dragged into the war by Israel.
The highly combative interview sparked a diplomatic firestorm when Huckabee said that Israel had a biblical right to territory spanning much of the Middle East.
Carlson also drew criticism for falsely claiming that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, and for suggesting that modern Israelis should undergo DNA testing to prove their ancestral right to the land.
Sanders said she was troubled by the former Fox host straying far outside the bounds of mainstream conservative thought.
‘Fundamentally and ideologically he has moved so far outside of the scope. I’m really proud of my dad for what he did, what he said and how he said it,’ she said.
Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk in Glendale, Arizona, on September 21
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks in Washington, DC, on June 10
‘Honestly, I’m shocked at how calm and measured my dad was,’ Sanders said, adding that she would have been ‘more pissed’ and that ‘there are a lot of words I could use.’
The broadside comes as Carlson has lobbied Trump directly at the White House on multiple occasions this year, urging him to pull back from military action and arguing the US was being drawn into the conflict solely to serve Israeli interests.
After the strikes commenced, Carlson condemned the operation as ‘absolutely disgusting and evil’, insisting that ‘this is Israel’s war, not the United States’ war.’
Trump hit back, saying Carlson had ‘lost his way’ and was no longer aligned with MAGA principles.
Sanders was asked whether she thinks Carlson really believed in what he was saying.
‘I certainly hope not, because I think again it’s not based in fact and it’s disappointing to see,’ she said.
‘My dad is coming from a place of deep conviction and belief that is grounded in biblical and spiritual truth. And I don’t think you saw that on the other side. I think it was important for people watching that interview to see the two different sides.’
Sanders said she ‘100 percent thinks it was the right decision’ to launch Operation Epic Fury, praising Trump’s ‘courage’ and his commitment to ‘protecting American lives.’
Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene during the 3rd round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series Bedminster on July 31, 2022
She pushed back on the suggestion it constituted a new conflict, arguing Trump was ‘ending a war that’s been going on for nearly five decades.’
The dispute also throws an awkward spotlight on Carlson’s son Buckley, 28, who serves as deputy press secretary to Vice President JD Vance.
Trump recently acknowledged Vance had been ‘philosophically a little bit different’ and ‘less enthusiastic’ about the strikes at the outset, though he insisted the two are now ‘on the same page.’
