Why did Tucker Carlson become someone who wants Israel to become a pariah?

It’s a question many wonder since he has gone down a rabbit hole of anti-Israel conspiracy theories, obsessed with Israel at every turn. Carlson recently interviewed Cenk Uygur, the anti-Israel founder of the prominent left-wing YouTube Channel The Young Turks, and Uygur mentioned Israel more than 110 times in the interview.

Jason Zengerle, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, and staff writer at the New Yorker wrote a new book about Carlson, “Hated By All The Right People: Tucker Carlson and The Unraveling of The Conservative Mind.”

Zengerle, who’s written for GQ and the Atlantic, tells the journey of a man who struggled with alcoholism, didn’t graduate from college, and bounced around from MSNBC to CNN, triumphantly rising to host “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and have the best ratings in America, until being ousted in mysterious circumstances.

If Carlson was still at Fox, would he be able to speak like the man he is now, obsessed with Israel?

At the end, “he was definitely getting away with things at Fox no one else got away with,” Zengerle said. “But I do think the fact that it’s a publicly traded company would mean he couldn’t have gotten away with it to this extent.”

Carlson bizarrely claimed he was attacked by a demon and the author notes in his book that Carlson referred to Darryl Cooper as possibly the best and most popular historian despite his not being a historian. Cooper infamously claimed Winston Churchill was the real villain of World War II.

How does Carlson still have any credibility?

“He’s gotten more religious himself,” Zengerle said, adding that some may be willing to overlook his fantastical story. “Regarding Cooper, Carlson’s audience doesn’t know enough and takes his word.”

Zengerle said Carlson believes he was fired from Fox in April of 2023, as part of a tacit agreement from the Dominion settlement in which Fox News paid $787 million to the company whom Fox claimed had fraudulent voting machines in the 2000 election. The book shows includes messages from Carlson that show he hated Trump. But he apologized, when he realized Trump had a chance to improbably win a second term.

Trying To Stop Attacking Iran Then and Now

Zengerle describes that Carlson had influence with Trump, who watched Carlson’s Fox show. Carlson was strongly against the bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. “The challenge for him during the run up to Iran was that he didn’t have his TV show anymore, and his private conversations with Trump were no match for the drumbeat of wanting to attack Iran on Fox, which Trump was watching” Zengerle said of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. “Trump called him kooky and said to let him get his own TV show. Tucker couldn’t compete with what Fox was putting out there. I assume the same thing is happening now that he is lobbying Trump against an attack on Iran, though Fox is not banging the drum as it did in the summer.”

Motive For His Israel Madness?

Zengerle said he didn’t find evidence that Carlson was being paid by Qatar despite many that believe this is the case and call him Tucker “Qatarlson.” As to how his fans could think it is American to buy a home in Qatar, as he boasted he was doing, while in that country, Zengerle said many of his fans didn’t even hear the statement, nor did they react when he appeared to be near tears when Iran attacked Qatar.

Zengerle interviewed a number of past Jewish colleagues and friends who knew him prior to 2020 and none said he showed any anti-Israel sentiment or antisemitic beliefs. The book does explain his anger and feeling that he believed he and others, including Bill Kristol, who is Jewish and hired Carlson for his first writing job at The Weekly Standard in 1995, were duped into supporting the Iraq War, believing there were weapons of mass destruction.

“There’s something to the theory that he is angry at neo-cons, many who are Jewish and support Israel and his criticism started to poke at them, and it has turned into something else,” Zengerle said. But trying to find out the origin is tough.”

His Mother and Some Friends Didn’t Have His Back

Carlson’s father (who Zengerle claims was not in the CIA) had custody of him and after his parents’ divorce. Carlson rarely saw his mother, Lisa Lombardi, who left him $1 in her will. He did not attend her funeral.

The book notes he married his high school sweetheart, Susie Andrews, the daughter of a priest who was also the school’s headmaster. He was a fan of Grateful Dead, and tried marijuana, acid and cocaine. He also dumped a Bloody Mary on the head of an enemy.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Zengerle said Carlson has good writing skills, charisma and has shown resilience amid career ups and down, in working for all three major cable news networks. He also said Carlson, like many in today’s attention economy, he has prioritized audience capture over facts.

In one crucial scene in the book, Carlson and writers are talking about ethics involving articles that are posted online. Carlson tells them there is no line. “I think his weakness is he’s always trying to see how far he can take things,” Zengerle said. “Maybe he will finally cross the line.”

Does Carlson Want to Be in The White House?

President Trump famously became incensed when President Obama mocked him at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, poking fun at the tasks on “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Some believe this in part fueled Trump’s desirte to run. The book tells how Carlson was knocked for a loop in 2004 when comedian Jon Stewart came on to the CNN show “Crossfire” – which Carlson co-hosted — and rather than make jokes, Stewart lambasted him, told him he was hurting America and called him a “dick.” The show was soon cancelled.

“He hasn’t forgotten about it,” Zengerle said.  “It’s a central moment in his career. It planted a seed of resentment that blossomed into something else. That was certainly an inflection point. He felt his friends didn’t come to his aid and take his side as he would have wanted. It made him easier to turn and do this flip that he’s done.”

Zengerle said he doubts Carlson would run for president in 2028, and there was only one way in which he might even consider it. “He is so close with (Vice President) JD Vance, who is in ideological lockstep with him,” Zengerle said. “Vance is a great vehicle for Tucker. The only way Tucker might run would be if Vance took a different line and there was some distance between them. The more likely scenario would be that if Tucker thought Vance couldn’t win, he’d try to find someone who could. I assume if Vance were to get elected, Tucker would be extremely influential in the White House.”

The book explains how Carlson influenced Trump to endorse Vance for Ohio Senate and then as Trump’s 2024 running mate, telling him if he picked Florida Senator Marco Rubio or North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, he’d be assassinated so one of the two neo-cons could take the helm.

If Zengerle had a truth serum and could ask Carlson one question and be guaranteed to get a truthful answer, what would it be?

“What’s your deal with Israel?” Zengerle said would be his question. “It would be interesting to get his answer because people want to know.”

Despite his laugh, and conspiracy theories, Zengerle said Carlson shouldn’t be underestimated. Told that former CNN host Chris Cuomo predicted that Carlson’s podcast could surpass Joe Rogan’s, Zengerle said that’s entirely possible. While some believe Carlson will sputter out by saying nonsensical things, this author disagrees.

“Tucker is someone you have to pay attention to and take seriously,” he said. “You can’t afford to ignore him.”