(José Niño, Headline USA) Tucker Carlson’s pointed questioning of Ted Cruz’s Iran policy has ignited a fierce debate among conservatives about U.S. military involvement abroad about the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
The incident unfolded during a highly anticipated interview on Carlson’s show on Tuesday, as Israel’s recent airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites had triggered a wave of retaliatory missile attacks. The full interview was released a day later.
Senator Ted Cruz demands regime change in Iran. He’s not interested in the details.
(0:00) Why Does Cruz Want Regime Change in Iran?
(6:28) Is the US Currently Acting in Its Own Best Interest?
(7:49) Was Regime Change in Syria Beneficial to the US?
(12:31) Was the Iraq War a… pic.twitter.com/iIdENogQ2T— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 18, 2025
With President Donald Trump signaling possible direct U.S. military involvement, the Republican coalition found itself split between non-interventionists wary of another foreign entanglement and hawks like Cruz, who advocated for aggressive support of Israel and regime change in Iran.
Carlson, a vocal critic of U.S. military interventions, pressed Cruz on the fundamentals of his Iran policy, beginning with a pointed question: “How many people live in Iran, by the way?”
Placed on the backfoot, Cruz admitted he didn’t know, prompting Carlson to incredulously respond, “You don’t know the population of the country you seek to topple?”
Cruz responded by putting the question back on Carlson: “How many people live in Iran?”
“92 million,” Carlson answered. “How could you not know that?”
Cruz replied, “I don’t sit around memorizing population tables.”
Carlson shot back, “Well, it’s kind of relevant because you’re calling for the overthrow of the government.”
The exchange quickly escalated, with Carlson questioning Cruz’s grasp of Iran’s ethnic makeup.
“OK, what’s the ethnic mix of Iran?” Carlson asked.
Cruz responded that Iranians are “Persian and predominantly Shia,” which led Carlson to press him for specific percentages.
“OK, this is cute,” Cruz said, interrupting. But Carlson kept going: “You don’t know anything about Iran—”
Cruz then seemingly mocked him: “I am not the Tucker Carlson expert on Iran—”
After the clip of this exchange circulated on social media, Cruz claimed Carlson had released “a snippet playing a ‘gotcha’ on the population of Iran.” The Texas senator said, “I declined to play that silly game,” and also accused Carlson of going after President Trump.
This wasn’t the first time the two had clashed over major issues. In 2022, Headline USA noted that Carlson had earlier criticized Cruz for describing the January 6 Capitol breach as a “violent terrorist attack,” which led the senator to retract his statement amid backlash from his conservative supporters.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
