‘What Do You Mean?!’ Tucker Carlson Loses It on Interviewer Over Israel Questions

Tucker Carlson grew frustrated with an interviewer whose questions he repeatedly challenged.

On Thursday, The Economist released a nearly hour-long interview with the former Fox News host, who has become a leading conservative voice against the Iran war, as well as continued unconditional aid to Israel. Although 77% of Republicans say they support bombing Iran, there have been several high-profile spats over the war and Israel in right-wing media.

In the Economist interview, Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes asked Carlson about his criticisms of the Israeli government and whether the country has a “right to exist”:

MINTON BEDDOES: You are critical of the government of Israel. Do you believe in Israel’s right to exist? Would you consider yourself a Zionist in that narrow definition?

CARLSON: What does that mean, a right to exist?

MINTON BEDDOES: The existence of the political state of Israel.

CARLSON: But it has a right. What does that mean?

MINTON BEDDOES: That you think it should continue in its existence as a state right now. So you do not agree with Iran, for example.

CARLSON: Let me just ask, since you asked me the question, it’s fair for me to get you to define the term so I can answer it. You’ve asked two questions. The first was, do you believe Israel is a right to exist? And the second question was, do you believe Israel should continue to go on as a nation-state? And those are very different questions. So, I often hear the phrase–

MINTON BEDDOES: Having been created as a political entity in 1948–

CARLSON: Does it have a right to exist? Is that what you’re asking?

MINTON BEDDOES: I don’t want to get hung up on the right to– should it continue to exist. That’s what, that’s how I define narrowly–

CARLSON: Because the phrase you used was devised by the Israeli government, of course. Does it have a right to exist? And so my question to you would be, what does that mean?

MINTON BEDDOES: Why don’t you answer my question? It’s a very simple question.

CARLSON: I don’t know what your question is. Are you asking, does it have the right to exists or do I want it to exist? Do I seek its destruction?

MINTON BEDDOES: Fine. Answer it that way.

CARLSON: Well, of course I don’t seek its destruction. I’ve already said, as you know, because I said it to you, I don’t want Israel to be destroyed or have to use nuclear weapons.

Despite the frequent invocation of the “right to exist” vis-à-vis Israel, it is not an international legal concept. Under international law, no state has a right to exist. At the same time, the right of self-determination, which is the idea that all peoples have a right to determine their own fate by forming their own political entities, is a fundamental principle of international law.

The exchange continued:

MINTON BEDDOES: We’ve established that you are in that narrow terms, a Zionist.

CARLSON: I’m in no sense a Zionist. I don’t want any country to be destroyed at all, and I don’t want people to die, particularly ones who committed no crime, because I don’t believe in killing innocents, period. That’s the basis of Western civilization. Eastern civilization, it’s a whole different view. They believe in collective punishment, I don’t.

MINTON BEDDOES: So you’re in no sense a Zionist.

CARLSON: I don’t even know what that means. Why don’t you define the term and then I’ll tell you whether I am.

MINTON BEDDOES: I just defined it. A Zionist, in my narrow term, this definition, is that the state of Israel, the political state of Israel, has the right to continue existing.

CARLSON: The right? Where does that right come from? What do you mean?! These are like– I’m not being a lawyer about it! I just wanna know what you’re asking!

MINTON BEDDOES: You’re refusing to answer the question.

CARLSON: It’s because I don’t know what you’re asking me.

MINTON BEDDOES: Let’s go to the–

CARLSON: No, no. [cackles] You don’t want to define your question, and I don’t know why. I don’t know what you’re asking me. I’ve already said, I don’t want Israel to be destroyed. I don’t want anyone to be killed. And you’ve said, does Israel have a right to exist? Does it have a– and my question is, what right are you talking about? Does Britain have a right to exist? Does the United States have a right to exist?

MINTON BEDDOES: That there was a world order built up after 1945 which suggested that aggression should not be condoned into countries, that countries with borders have–

CARLSON: I totally agree with that, which is why the first thing that Israel did within two weeks of this war starting, which was supposedly existential for them, was take southern Lebanon, take someone else’s country, as they have done repeatedly. And no one even mentions that. And so, I guess I would be opposed to that because I guess, I think Lebanon has a “right to exist.” I thought Gaza had a “right to exist.” But I noticed that as soon as we started apportioning rights, only one country gets them.

MINTON BEDDOES: No, I did not say that. You’re absolutely putting words into my mouth.

CARLSON: Here’s what I do believe, since you asked. I believe in universally applicable standards, and if they’re not universally applicable, they’re not standards, they’re preferences. That’s why I believe human rights, not ethnic rights. I don’t think Jews have more rights or less rights than anyone else. I don’t think Christians have more or less right, blacks, Filipinos. I believe that human rights derive from the creation of people by God.

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