Tucker Carlson Unloads on NSA, Tells Glenn Beck He ‘Felt Like Kind of a Lunatic’ Going Public Alleging Spying

Fox News’ Tucker Carlson said in a Wednesday interview with Glenn Beck that he felt like a “lunatic” for going public with allegations that America’s premier spy agency had been monitoring his communications.

Carlson said he learned about the claim from a chance encounter with a friend during a trip to Washington, D.C., and that he “immediately” called a senator he trusted. “And I said this kind of scares me, honestly, what should I do?'” Carlson said. “And he said you’ve got to go public with it because you don’t have any other defense. You don’t have actual power. The only power you have is to talk, which is true, and you need to do that right away, prophylactically, as a self-defense move.

“And so I did, and I felt like kind of a lunatic,” he added. “You don’t want to go on TV — I mean, would you want to go on-air and saying they’re spying on me? No, you sound like a nutcase, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice.”

Carlson first went public with the allegation on his June 28 program. He disclosed in subsequent weeks that he had been trying to arrange an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that the agency probably ensnared his communications during those efforts.

The NSA’s inspector general announced on Tuesday that it was opening an investigation into the claims, including the process by which the agency “unmasked” his identity, and whether any NSA staffers intended to improperly leak the information to members of the media.

“I think I’m the least paranoid, sunniest, most optimistic, naive person I know,” Carlson added in his interview with Beck. “I never assume bad motives on the part of any American… But I think if you’re paying attention, you’re deeply concerned about where we’re going.”

Watch above via The Blaze.

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