'I'm Sorry for Misleading People': Tucker Carlson Breaks From Trump With a Public Apology, Election Support Was a Mistake

Tucker Carlson has issued a remarkable on-air apology for his role in helping Donald Trump win the presidency, saying he will be 'tormented' by it 'for a long time.' The conservative commentator made the admission during a recent episode of 'The Tucker Carlson Show', sitting alongside his brother Buckley Carlson to discuss the state of the United States under Trump's second term.

'I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people, it was not intentional,' Carlson told viewers. 'That's all I'll say.' The admission marked one of the most striking public breaks yet between Trump and a figure who was once among his most influential media allies.

'We're Implicated in This for Sure'

Carlson did not spare himself or his brother in the reckoning. 'You and I, and everyone else who supported him, I mean you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him — I mean we're implicated in this for sure,' he told Buckley. 'It's not enough to say "well I changed my mind" or like "oh, this is bad I'm out."'

He went further, acknowledging the broader weight of their collective actions. 'In very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now,' he said. Buckley Carlson, who wrote speeches for Trump during the 2016 campaign, was also present for the conversation and did not dispute his brother's characterisation.

The admission came after Buckley suggested those in power should consider invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows for a president to be declared incapable of fulfilling their duties. 'The 25th amendment is there for a reason,' the younger Carlson said. 'It's not crazy to talk about it in this context.'

A Rupture Rooted in the Iran War

The rupture between Trump and Carlson has become one of the most visible splits within the MAGA movement, largely over the war in the Middle East and Trump's relationship with Israel. Carlson was among the first major conservative media figures to denounce the US military operation against Iran, which began in February, calling Trump's rhetoric on the matter 'vile on every level.'

Tucker Carlson delivered a 43-minute monologue framing Trump's Iran rhetoric as morally corrupt and even 'evil.' He also urged White House staff and military officials to refuse presidential orders that could lead to mass civilian casualties in Iran — including, he said, the potential use of nuclear weapons — telling them directly: 'Now it's time to say no, absolutely not.'

He was not alone in his dissent. Megyn Kelly effectively accused Trump of gaslighting Americans to 'save face' for an unpopular conflict, and Candace Owens called for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment.

Trump Fires Back

Trump did not take the criticism quietly. The president went after Carlson, Kelly, Owens and Alex Jones in a lengthy Truth Social post, calling them 'losers' and 'nut jobs' and saying they were 'stupid people' who 'know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too.'

Trump also wrote on Truth Social: 'Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn't even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he's never been the same. Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!'

Despite the personal attacks, Carlson chose to offer Trump 'grace' rather than engage in 'petty name-calling,' writing that the president was 'facing a level of pressure that is dark enough to make him abandon his campaign promises.' That gesture has since been followed by Monday's on-air apology, in which Carlson said he was sorry for misleading people.

A Movement Fracturing From Within

Carlson's apology arrives amid mounting signs that the conservative media coalition which helped deliver Trump his second term is fracturing. Joe Rogan, whose endorsement was considered among the most consequential of the 2024 campaign, has called the Iran war 'insane, based on what he ran on' and said supporters feel 'betrayed.'

A CNN poll showed 25 per cent of Trump 2024 voters disapproved of him on 'foreign affairs,' 28 per cent disapproved on Iran and 45 per cent disapproved on gas prices, which have risen due to the war. For a movement built on loyalty, those numbers are a telling sign of growing disillusionment among the very voters Trump once relied on most.

Carlson's public apology is significant not merely as a personal statement but as a signal of how profoundly the relationship between Trump and his most influential media backers has deteriorated. Having once been a kingmaker within the MAGA movement, his willingness to say on air that he misled people carries weight that a standard political critique would not. Whether it shifts public opinion in any meaningful way remains to be seen.