Tucker Carlson Calls Rick Scott a 'Lunatic' Over Iran 'Killing Us' Claim

Tucker Carlson on Wednesday called Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott a "lunatic" for saying Iran has been killing Americans for 47 years. It is one of the sharpest attacks yet from a MAGA media figure on a sitting GOP senator over the war with Iran.

On The Tucker Carlson Show, Carlson played a clip of Scott defending the war, which the United States and Israel launched with airstrikes at the end of February, Gallup reported. "They've been killing us for 47 years," Scott said. "They were close to a nuclear weapon." Scott also cast the war as a choice between high gas prices and being killed by a nuclear weapon. The national average for regular gasoline stands at $4.35 a gallon.

Carlson answered him directly.

"They've been killing us for 47 years. Who are they exactly? The Iranians have been killing us for 47 years. When and where? What are you even talking about? You lunatic." — Tucker Carlson

Tucker Carlson on Rick Scott and the Iran War Case

Carlson stopped short of calling Scott a bad actor. "Those of us who know Rick Scott, don't think he's a genius, but don't think he's evil or anything," he said.

"Maybe he's been listening to too many briefings," Carlson said. "Maybe all of his donors have convinced him that he's actually living in a world where you get nuked at any minute, including by countries that don't have nuclear weapons or the means to deliver them. Iran doesn't have either one and never has."

What the Record Shows on Iran and Americans Since 1979

Scott's count runs from the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the record supports more of it than Carlson allowed. In September 2007, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered Iran to pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, NBC News reported.

When the U.S. announced indictments in 2001 over the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. airmen, officials said Iranian nationals had "inspired, supported, and supervised" the attackers, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. The Pentagon later attributed at least 603 U.S. troop deaths in Iraq between 2003 and 2011 to Iran-backed militants, Military Times reported.

Carlson's flat claim on weapons is accurate: Iran has never had a nuclear weapon. Whether it lacks "the means to deliver them" is more arguable. Iran fields one of the largest ballistic missile forces in the Middle East, and those missiles can reach U.S. bases across the Gulf. It has no intercontinental missile that could reach the U.S., and U.S. intelligence assesses it could develop one by 2035, Fox News reported.

The intelligence record also complicates the case for the war. At a March hearing on the annual threat assessment, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Iran had been "unwilling and incapable of enriching uranium to 60%" since the U.S. strikes the previous summer. Asked whether Iran posed an imminent nuclear threat, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said only the president could make that call, ABC News reported.

Polling on the Iran War and Israel

Carlson also said the public is against the U.S. political class. "What do you do about the fact that, like, I don't know, 75% of your population finds it repugnant?" he asked, referring to the killing of children in Gaza. He offered the figure loosely, and it does not come from any specific poll.

Polls do show broad opposition to the war. A Pew Research Center survey conducted March 16-22 found that 59 percent of adults thought the decision to use force against Iran was wrong. A Gallup poll conducted June 1-15 put approval of the military action at 34 percent, among the lowest Gallup has measured for a U.S. military action since the 1980s. Approval stood at 79 percent among Republicans and 8 percent among Democrats.

Carlson and Dave Smith See Democratic Midterm Gains

Later in the episode, Carlson's guest, comedian and podcaster Dave Smith, said he had thought the war would cost Republicans the midterms, then joked that Ben Shapiro blames Carlson for costing Republicans the Senate. "It's a done deal that the Democrats are going to win the midterms and the Trump presidency is destroyed," Smith said.

Carlson largely agreed but questioned what Democrats stand for. "They don't like Trump and Trump is very unpopular. So it's, they're going to get elected, but do you think their program will change?" he asked.

The numbers point the same way. President Donald Trump's approval rating stands at 37.4 percent in PolitiKool's polling average, and Democrats lead the generic congressional ballot by 8.1 points in PolitiKool's polling average.