Tucker Carlson released a new interview with 24-year-old Nalin Haley, reigniting controversy just weeks after his episode with extremist Nick Fuentes. The two spent much of their discussion attacking dual citizenship, railing against legal immigration, and accusing Israel of swaying American policymaking.
Their conversation quickly pivoted to Israel, with Carlson and Haley ridiculing what they described as an American political “obsession” with the Jewish state. They labeled that focus “weird” and “unhealthy,” echoing claims Carlson has made repeatedly in recent months. Haley’s appearance followed the highly publicized GOP primary challenge his mother, Nikki Haley, mounted against US President Donald Trump in 2024.
Carlson has faced mounting backlash over his increasingly conspiratorial commentary about Israel. He has floated baseless suggestions about hidden Israeli links to the 9/11 attacks and Jeffrey Epstein, claimed Israel prosecutes war in Gaza over notions of “blood-guilt,” and accused Jerusalem of mistreating Christians amid its battles with the Palestinians.
In that same vein, he has repeatedly portrayed Ben Shapiro — an Orthodox Jewish commentator and outspoken defender of Israel — as someone whose loyalty belongs to Israel rather than the United States, even asserting Shapiro has failed to oppose “usury.” Critics have identified these claims as textbook antisemitic rhetoric.
The segment with Haley veered into these themes after a broader foreign-policy exchange. Carlson pressed him on what he described as the persistent push for “another regime change war, in whatever country,” a remark widely interpreted as an Iran reference. Trump had openly supported Israel’s aggressive stance toward Tehran’s nuclear program, a position Carlson has derided, prompting Trump to label him “kooky.”
Haley responded, “I don’t think they’re advocating for it just because they’re advocating for it, I think there’s interest groups that are pushing them to advocate for it.” Carlson immediately agreed: “Clearly there are, we’ve learned a lot about that recently.”
Carlson then introduced what he termed “the Israel question,” and Haley described it as “the question no one wants to ask.” Carlson added, “I never felt it was as central as it turned out to be.”
That led to a reference to Nick Fuentes. Carlson noted that the far-right figure “is famous for saying naughty things, but also saying a pretty straightforward critique of the control that Israel has over the United States. Is that view widely shared, do you think?” Fuentes, whom Carlson interviewed earlier in the month, is openly agnostic on whether the Holocaust happened, calling it a pillar of Jewish identity and tying Jewishness to anti-white animus. Carlson introduced that interview by claiming Fuentes’s popularity stems from racism against white Americans.
Haley avoided addressing Fuentes’s ideology directly, but agreed with Carlson’s description of younger Americans as “increasingly skeptical, if not hostile,” toward Israel. He argued, “I don’t think it’s anything we’ve done. I think it’s all reliant on Israel. That’s on them, actually not us.”
He added that “the reality is, they’re just another country,” insisting he did not consider Israel “evil,” but maintaining that “if they want a better relationship with the United States, they need to stop interfering in our politics.”
Haley emphasized that his criticisms extended to all foreign governments, not only Israel. He argued that all foreign aid and all foreign lobbying should be eliminated, saying, “It is a lot of other countries that do that. And it’s just as much a problem.”
The United States has long had strong pro-Israel advocacy networks, but many other states invest far more heavily in Washington influence campaigns. Among them is Qatar — a patron of Hamas — whose lobbyists maintain ties across partisan lines. According to filings with the US Justice Department, a Qatar-connected firm even facilitated Carlson’s interview earlier this year with the Qatari prime minister.
From there, the discussion shifted to immigration, where Haley insisted that dual citizenship should be outlawed, that Americans should not serve in foreign militaries, and that naturalized citizens should be barred from public office. Carlson said he hosted Haley as part of a broader effort to understand why so many young men are gravitating toward Fuentes’s movement.
Carlson’s earlier Fuentes interview triggered an uproar inside the Heritage Foundation, where a wave of resignations followed the organization’s leader declining to condemn the appearance. The fallout has highlighted a growing divide on the American right over Israel, antisemitism, and the ideologies that Carlson is increasingly platforming.
{Matzav.com}
