WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump defended Tucker Carlson on Sunday for his sympathetic interview with white nationalist and avowedly racist antisemite Nick Fuentes, breaking a conspicuous weekslong silence on an episode that had ignited bitter infighting among conservatives.

In late October, Carlson, a top surrogate for Trump’s reelection campaign who was given a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention last year, interviewed Fuentes on his podcast. During their discussion, Carlson attacked Republicans who closely backed Israel, calling them “Christian Zionists” who had been “seized by this brain virus.”

On Sunday, Trump, speaking of Carlson as he traveled back to the White House after spending the weekend golfing at Mar-a-Lago, said, “You can’t tell him who to interview.” The president then insisted that he “didn’t know much about” Fuentes, whom he previously dined with at Mar-a-Lago in 2022, an episode that also caused a furor.

If Carlson wanted to interview Fuentes, then “get the word out,” Trump said. “People have to decide. Ultimately people have to decide.”

Fuentes, who had previously bragged that the silence from the White House over the episode was a sign of his growing influence on the right, shared Trump’s defense of Carlson on social media, writing “Thank you Mr. President!”

Trump Did Not Address Fuentes’ Racist Views

Trump’s defense of Carlson did not address Fuentes’ racist views, or Carlson’s expressions of sympathy for some of Fuentes’ positions. But the president’s remarks threw the right-wing influencer a lifeline weeks after prominent Republican lawmakers, Jewish organizations and conservative influencers denounced him for the podcast.

Even as many figures on the right disavowed or distanced themselves from Carlson, others defended him. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, a powerful think tank at the center of conservative politics, said that Carlson’s critics were “sowing division” and that he would “always be a close friend” to the institution. (Days later, in response to significant criticism over those remarks, Roberts pleaded ignorance, saying that he “didn’t know much about this Fuentes guy.” His video defending Carlson has not been retracted.)

The White House stayed out of the uproar for weeks. Fuentes, appearing on his own podcast soon after speaking to Carlson, interpreted that silence as a victory for his movement of so-called groypers, who oppose diversity and immigration and believe the United States was better off when Christian white men were in charge.

Fuentes gleefully singled out Vice President JD Vance for not condemning him. Fuentes has long been a mocking critic of Vance and has made racist remarks about his wife, Usha.

Hours before Trump’s comments Sunday, Vance waded into the infighting among conservatives to defend Carlson’s son Buckley, who works as an aide in the vice president’s office. After a conservative political operative had attacked the younger Carlson on social media, accusing him of bigotry because of his connection to his father, Vance lashed back.

“I have an extraordinary tolerance for disagreements and criticisms from the various people in our coalition,” Vance said in a social media post. “But I am a very loyal person, and I have zero tolerance for scumbags attacking my staff.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Chris Cameron/Doug Mills
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