Tucker Carlson compares Ted Cruz to extremist, feud escalates

The long-running feud between Tucker Carlson and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz escalated, with the conservative podcaster comparing the senator to a known white nationalist on a podcast.

During a sit-down podcast interview with The New York Times, Saturday, May 2, the conservative commentator and former Fox News host called Cruz more  "morally repulsive" than Nick Fuentes, a conservative podcaster who has been drawing in backlash for denying the Holocaust and espousing white nationalist views.

Midway through talking to host Lulu Garcia-Navarro about him having Fuentes on his podcast, Carlson posed a question to Garcia-Navarro: "Who do you think is more morally repulsive: Ted Cruz or Nick Fuentes?"

Garcia-Navarro did not answer but instead flipped to a question about Carlson, who immediately answered Cruz.

"Cruz is a sitting U.S. senator who has called for the killing of people who did nothing wrong, whole populations, who advocated for this war. Nick Fuentes is a kid. He’s like 26 or 27. He has no power except his words," Carlson said during the podcast.

This feud between Carlson and Cruz predated the NYT podcast, with Carlson having the senator on his own podcast last year, where the senator was described as hawkish on Iran and supportive of regime change.

Cruz, in response to the interview, took to X, reposting a photo of Carlson and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, Graham Platner, asking, "Do they both have Nazi tattoos?"

Cruz also reposted a part of the interview in which Carlson denied ever having called Trump the “antichrist,” even with the NYT showing a clip of Carlson from his own show questioning if Trump is the antichrist.

Is Ted Cruz considering presidential run?

The interview was released only a day after Cruz was spotted in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 1, where he had won the state's caucus during the 2016 GOP presidential primaries.

As the Texas Tribune reports, this appearance at Faith and Freedom's Spring Kickoff — to rally Republicans ahead of the midterms — has fueled speculation that the senator is considering another presidential run.

Mateo Rosiles is the Texas Connect reporter for USA TODAY and its regional papers in Texas. Got a news tip for him? Email him: [email protected].