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Tucker Carlson Demands Truth About Charlie Kirk's Death and Condemns Foreign Leaders Exploiting His Memory
Tucker Carlson addresses the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassination and the troubling response from both law enforcement and foreign leaders. Carlson expresses frustration with the lack of transparency from authorities about how the alleged shooter transitioned from mainstream to murderer, and condemns Prime Minister Netanyahu for immediately claiming Kirk as a supporter of Israel within hours of his death. Carlson defends Kirk's well-documented independent stance on foreign policy, emphasizing that Kirk refused to be bullied by any foreign government and always put America first. In this candid conversation, Carlson argues that government officials have a moral obligation to provide truth and transparency to hold the country together, and criticizes both the politicization of Kirk's death and the obsessive focus that obscures the real tragedy.
The Missing Explanation in the Charlie Kirk Investigation
Tucker Carlson opens by addressing his concerns about Kash Patel's handling of the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassination. When asked whether he's satisfied with the public response from law enforcement, Carlson reveals his primary frustration: the absence of any substantive explanation. While he's willing to accept that Tyler Robinson committed the murder and confessed to it, Carlson identifies a critical missing piece in the narrative.
"The missing piece for me is how did a guy who's apparently kind of mainstream become so non-mainstream that he decided to murder a stranger with a bolt-action 306," Carlson explains. "That's a big transition. You need to tell me how that happened." Drawing on his 35 years of experience covering such cases, including his time as a police reporter, Carlson notes that law enforcement typically makes their case in public and provides the public with a clear sense of what happened.
The Government's Moral Obligation to Provide Truth
Carlson addresses what he sees as a broader pattern of government opacity and its consequences for national unity. He rejects the common excuses about protecting prosecutions or avoiding jury prejudice, noting that in his decades of experience, there's rarely a legitimate reason to withhold basic information from the public.
"If you don't provide a believable story, you can't blame other people for coming up with a better story," Carlson states. "It's your moral obligation, especially if you're a government official trying to hold this fractious country of 350 million together. It's your moral obligation to hold this country together with truth and the promise of justice. And justice comes from truth. You can't have justice on the basis of lies."
He acknowledges that there may be some legitimate practical reasons for temporarily withholding certain information, but insists that most details can and should be shared. When transparency is absent, Carlson argues, citizens have every right to be suspicious and to blame officials for fracturing the country into competing factions with competing narratives.
Netanyahu's Immediate Politicization of Kirk's Death
Carlson addresses what he found to be one of the most appalling aspects of the aftermath of Kirk's assassination: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appearing on Fox News within hours of Kirk's death to claim that Kirk was "the greatest supporter of our cause." This immediate insertion into American political discourse, Carlson notes, was met with almost no condemnation from the political class.
Instead, when Carlson himself appeared at the White House with the vice president and criticized foreign leaders for claiming Kirk "lived or died for our cause," he faced immediate condemnation. Carlson questions why critiquing such behavior is labeled as evidence of obsession, while foreign leaders using a dead American's memory for their own domestic political purposes faces no scrutiny.
"If I died and Narendra Modi was on TV, I promise I give you permission. Please attack him and say, 'Hey, get his name out of your mouth. He had nothing to do with you. He was just an American,'" Carlson's interviewer adds, illustrating the universal principle at stake.
Death Draws Vultures
Carlson acknowledges he shouldn't have been shocked by the opportunistic behavior, noting that "death draws vultures" and predators always attempt to glom onto a hero's memory to advance their own interests. However, his friendship with Kirk made the betrayal feel more personal.
Carlson emphasizes his general principle that nobody should politicize a death in the immediate aftermath, especially while the widow is still grieving. He shares that when he gave part of a eulogy at Kirk's funeral just two days prior to this conversation, he deliberately kept it completely non-political, focusing only on Christianity—though he notes he was attacked for that approach as well.
Regarding Netanyahu specifically, Carlson clarifies: "He's a foreign leader. I get to attack, I get to critique foreign leaders. I don't hate BB, but I disagree that what he's doing is helping our country. I'm offended by the fact that he's telling everyone in his region, including other leaders, that he controls the US government. That offends me as an American."
Not Everything Is About Jews
Carlson pushes back forcefully against accusations that he's obsessed with Israel or Jewish issues, arguing that the opposite is true. He identifies what he sees as an unhealthy connection between anti-Semites and Zionists: both see the world through the same lens where everything is about Jews.
"I just don't see the world that way at all," Carlson states. "Hate and narcissism are twins, it turns out. If there's one thing I want to say to the internet, it's like not everything is about Jews. That's not an attack on anybody. It's not healthy for everything to be about any group. How is that good? It's not good. It doesn't help anybody."
Carlson insists he has zero interest in talking about these issues constantly and that it's never been a core interest of his. The accusation of obsession, he argues, is projection from those who actually are fixated on the topic.
Charlie Kirk's Well-Documented Views on Israel
Carlson then addresses the attempts to mischaracterize Kirk's views on Israel, calling such claims "an obvious lie." He shares personal conversations with Kirk, noting that Kirk had been under intense pressure to cancel a speech Carlson was scheduled to give for him in December. Carlson had offered multiple times to withdraw to avoid causing problems, but Kirk was adamant about not bending to that pressure.
"Charlie's views on Israel were really well-known," Carlson explains. He points to Kirk's track record of having Glenn Greenwald on his show, inviting Dave Smith to Turning Point in July, and having Carlson's interviewer on Kirk's program about a month before his death specifically to discuss these questions. Carlson notes that none of these people hate Israel, and that both Smith and Greenwald are Jewish, making accusations of anti-Semitism absurd.
Carlson summarizes Kirk's position, which he says mirrors his own: "I like Israel. I've gone there on vacation. I've always liked Israel. I'm very concerned about BB. He was concerned, very very concerned about BB. By the way, anyone who likes Israel is concerned about BB because that country is in serious trouble because of him."
Charlie Kirk's Red Line: American Independence
The core of Kirk's position, according to Carlson, was absolute clarity about American sovereignty and independence from foreign influence. Kirk said repeatedly, both publicly and privately, that his red line was refusing to be told what to say—especially by a foreign government or its advocates.
"I'm an American. I care about this country more than any other. To the extent that our interests align, great. When they diverge, I will say so. And I'm not going to be bullied," Carlson quotes Kirk as saying. "He said that a million times in public. He said it a million times in private, including to me. And that's just a fact. Ask anyone who knew him. Andrew Kolvet, who was on his show every day with him and a really good friend of his, traveled with him. He just said that. That's exactly what Charlie thought."
Carlson states plainly: "Anyone claiming otherwise is lying."
A Tragedy First and Foremost
Carlson expresses his hatred for even having this conversation, believing it diminishes Kirk and makes his death more political than it should be. He emphasizes that a man's death is first and foremost a tragedy to the people who loved him—starting with Kirk's wife Erika and their two children, his sister, his parents, his staff, and all who knew him personally.
"We're not talking about that because again we have this twin vortex of narcissism and hate. You have the Zionists and you have the anti-Semites and they feed off each other in this way that drowns out consideration of anything else," Carlson concludes. "It's so dark. It's so dark. Like it's bad."
Video Transcript
[00:00] I'm kind of ruminating on Cash Patel uh
[00:02] in the wake of Charlie's assassination,
[00:05] just in his handling of the
[00:06] investigation. And I'm curious like are
[00:08] you satisfied with his performance here
[00:11] uh publicly in the wake of Charlie's
[00:13] death and then broadly with the
[00:15] conventional explanation that we've
[00:17] received so far from lawmaker or law
[00:20] enforcement?
[00:21] >> I haven't received any kind of
[00:23] explanation. So the key question is
[00:24] you're telling me Tyler Robinson did it.
[00:26] Totally willing to believe that. I don't
[00:27] have any evidence anyone else did it.
[00:29] Um, you're telling me he confessed to it
[00:31] and that's his rifle. Happy to believe
[00:33] that. Right.
[00:34] >> The missing piece for me is how did a
[00:36] guy who's apparently kind of mainstream
[00:38] become so non- mainstream that he like
[00:40] decided to murder a stranger with a
[00:43] boltaction 306.
[00:45] >> That's a big transition.
[00:48] You know, maybe literally a transition.
[00:49] I don't know what it is. You need to
[00:51] tell me how that happened. And by the
[00:53] way, if you don't tell me how that
[00:54] happened, if you tell me that we can't
[00:55] talk about it because we don't want to,
[00:57] you know, prejudice the jury or it's
[00:59] going to affect the prosecution or
[01:00] whatever, there's no case where that's
[01:02] true. I've covered this stuff for 35
[01:03] years. I was a police reporter. You
[01:05] know, they always give you a sense of
[01:07] what they actually they make their case
[01:08] in public most of the time.
[01:10] >> True.
[01:10] >> Um with everybody. And so I guess what
[01:13] I'm saying is there's great frustration
[01:15] in a lot of places. there always is with
[01:18] alternative theories of everything, you
[01:20] know, like we're mad that you don't
[01:21] believe the moon landing. We're mad that
[01:22] you don't, you know, believe this or
[01:24] that story that we're telling. And my
[01:26] response to them, and it's often
[01:28] directly to them, is okay. The onus is
[01:31] kind of on you. You're in charge. So, if
[01:33] you don't provide a believable story,
[01:34] you can't blame other people for coming
[01:36] up with a better story. So, it's really
[01:38] your moral obligation, especially if
[01:41] you're a government official trying to
[01:42] hold this fractious country of 350
[01:44] million together. It's your moral
[01:46] obligation to hold this country together
[01:49] with truth and the promise of justice.
[01:51] And justice comes from truth. You can't
[01:54] have justice on the basis of lies. So
[01:56] don't lie to me. Make every possible
[01:59] effort you can to be transparent. There
[02:01] probably are some things you could make
[02:02] a case you can't tell me right now. You
[02:04] can certainly tell me 62 years later
[02:06] after say JFK was killed. But I get if
[02:09] there are some things you can't tell me
[02:10] right now for practical reasons. But
[02:13] most things you can tell me and if
[02:15] you're not telling me those things, I
[02:17] have every right to be suspicious of you
[02:19] and in fact to dislike you for
[02:21] fracturing this country into a million
[02:22] little pieces which your behavior is
[02:24] doing.
[02:25] >> Yeah, I think that's really well said.
[02:26] Tucker, I want to stick also uh with the
[02:29] memory of Charlie. Uh I found it
[02:31] appalling honestly. I think like you did
[02:34] how in almost the hours after Charlie's
[02:36] death, Prime Minister BB Netanyahu is on
[02:39] Fox News airwaves making claims like he
[02:42] was the greatest supporter of our cause.
[02:45] Of course, it it was met with almost no
[02:47] immediate condemnation uh suspicion or
[02:50] disgust uh by our political class. And
[02:53] instead, what I noticed is that when you
[02:56] appeared at the White House um with the
[02:58] vice president and you made a comment
[03:00] saying that you thought it was
[03:01] disgusting for foreign leaders, you
[03:03] know, to immediately say he lived or
[03:05] died for our cause, that that
[03:07] immediately invited condemnation. Uh and
[03:11] and I just I don't quite understand
[03:14] where the impetus comes from where to
[03:17] critique is evidence of being obsessed
[03:20] with something where you know by
[03:23] immediately inserting yourself into our
[03:26] politics to use the memory of a dead
[03:30] American you know for your own domestic
[03:33] political purposes andor to basically
[03:35] try and prejudice the American people or
[03:37] let's say the American right and others
[03:39] into believing that the two were lock
[03:42] step. I found that to be one of the most
[03:44] appalling and disgusting and I would say
[03:45] that about any foreign leader. If I died
[03:47] and Narendra Modi was on TV, I I promise
[03:50] I give you permission. Please attack him
[03:53] and say, "Hey, get his name out of your
[03:55] mouth. He had nothing to do with you. He
[03:56] was just an American." How are you on
[03:59] that?
[03:59] >> I mean, I'm I should admit that I'm
[04:02] silly for being shocked by it. Death
[04:04] draws vultures. That's what it does. So,
[04:07] this happens every single time.
[04:09] opportunists
[04:11] and predators glam on to the memory of
[04:14] of a hero in order to advance their own
[04:17] interest. So, I shouldn't have been
[04:18] shocked by it. I was shocked by it
[04:19] because I was friends with Charlie. So,
[04:20] I and I um in general, I by the way, I
[04:23] should say, such as BB, I I I object to
[04:25] anybody politicizing a death in the days
[04:29] after. If the widow is still grieving,
[04:31] pull back a little bit. Like, you don't
[04:32] need to do that. I just gave a speech,
[04:34] part of a eulogy at his funeral two days
[04:36] ago and I really tried to keep it
[04:38] completely non-political. Like I didn't
[04:40] mention anything having to do with
[04:41] politics. It was only about
[04:42] Christianity. Of course, I was attacked
[04:44] for that, too. Whatever. I I don't
[04:46] really care. But I would say on the
[04:48] question of BB specifically, you know,
[04:50] he's a foreign leader. I get to attack I
[04:52] get to critique foreign leaders. I don't
[04:53] hate BB,
[04:54] >> but I disagree that, you know, what he's
[04:57] doing is helping our country. I I'm
[04:59] offended by the fact that, you know,
[05:02] he's telling everyone in his region,
[05:04] including other leaders, that he
[05:05] controls the US government. That offends
[05:07] me as which he does a lot. And that
[05:09] offends me as an American. But as for
[05:11] being obsessed, just the opposite. I
[05:13] have zero interest in talking about
[05:15] this. And I I have to say there is
[05:17] something very uh that connects
[05:21] anti-semites, and there are
[05:22] anti-semites, to Zionists, and there are
[05:24] Zionists, and that is they both see the
[05:26] world through the same lens. Everything
[05:28] is about Jews.
[05:29] >> Yes.
[05:29] >> And I just don't see the world that way
[05:31] at all. I just don't at all. And but
[05:33] they do because hate and narcissism are
[05:36] twins, it turns out. And I just feel
[05:38] like if there's one thing I want to say
[05:40] to like the internet, it's like not
[05:42] everything is about Jews. I don't know.
[05:44] That's not an attack on anybody. It's
[05:46] not healthy for everything to be about
[05:49] any group. How is that good? It's not
[05:51] good. It doesn't help anybody. So, and
[05:53] that's the point. No, I'm obsessed. Oh
[05:55] gosh. Just the opposite. I'm I'm I'm
[05:58] tired of it. I I don't want to talk
[06:00] about this at all. I It's not a core
[06:02] interest of mine. It never has been. I
[06:04] pray to God it never will be. You know
[06:06] what I mean? Obsessed and No, no, not
[06:08] obsessed. That is a fact.
[06:11] >> Yeah. The obsession, I mean, it just
[06:12] rings hollow to me. uh when you know you
[06:15] have the 50 you know you have
[06:17] legislators and representatives from
[06:19] dozens of states all gathering in Israel
[06:22] you know pledging basically allegiance
[06:24] andor or at least undying support you
[06:26] know for a foreign government. the the
[06:29] conundrum and the you know this the
[06:31] contrast in which who is obsessed and
[06:33] who is not it strikes true but you know
[06:35] to to get away just away from that and
[06:37] the BB one specifically there has been
[06:40] quite a lot of discussion around Charlie
[06:42] and Israel you would be better
[06:44] positioned and I want to be very clear
[06:46] we are not in any way implying that
[06:48] Israel had anything to do with his death
[06:51] it is however a separate question one I
[06:54] believe forced on American political
[06:57] discourse by to the Israeli prime
[06:58] minister to sort out that question of
[07:01] his views. If he's going to say
[07:03] wholeheartedly that Charlie was lockep
[07:06] with the secular Israeli government and
[07:09] let's say all of its policies in all of
[07:11] its foreign policy and its war policy,
[07:14] etc. That does then bear discussion for
[07:16] a future, you know, kind of reckoning
[07:19] with the American rights relationship to
[07:20] Israel. And as you said, there were
[07:22] complicated feelings by Charlie. I
[07:24] believe he actually had me on uh his
[07:26] show almost a month uh before he died I
[07:29] believe at the b at after seeing me on
[07:31] your program and I think it was very
[07:33] specifically to sort through these types
[07:36] of questions and yet you know by even
[07:39] raising let's say let's take it out of
[07:42] his personal relationship even with
[07:43] Israel to the policy question of it it
[07:46] has be it has become like a bruhaha of
[07:49] anti-semitism accusation why did you
[07:52] think it was important to weigh in on
[07:55] because it's so poisonous and it's such
[07:57] a an obvious lie and I don't you know
[08:00] you don't need to take my word for it.
[08:01] Charlie's all over I mean in public. I I
[08:05] knew him well and he was just at my
[08:06] house. So I when we talked all about
[08:08] this because he was under such intense
[08:10] pressure to cancel a speech that I was
[08:11] scheduled to give for him in December.
[08:13] And I said to him many times,
[08:15] >> I don't need to give the speech. I don't
[08:16] want to cause you problems. I I don't
[08:17] actually care that much about these
[08:18] issues. Like I don't need to. And he was
[08:22] absolutely and many people have said
[08:24] this but he said it directly to me
[08:26] multiple times. He was adamant that no
[08:28] I'm not gonna bend. So but Charlie's
[08:31] views on Israel were like really
[08:33] wellnown. The fact that he had you on
[08:35] that he was close to Glenn Greenwald the
[08:38] invited the wonderful Dave Smith such a
[08:40] decent man much malign man uh you know
[08:42] to turning point in July like you don't
[08:44] need to do that. What are you doing? In
[08:46] fact he invited me. None of those people
[08:48] hates Israel at all. Dave Smith and and
[08:51] Glenn are Jewish, you know, like what?
[08:53] It has nothing to do with anti-semitism.
[08:55] Charlie's position was really clear and
[08:57] he said it a million times. I like
[08:59] Israel. I've gone there on vacation. By
[09:00] the way, this could be me talking
[09:01] because I feel the same way. I've always
[09:02] liked Israel. Um, I'm I'm very concerned
[09:06] about BB. He was concerned, very very
[09:08] concerned about BB. By the way, anyone
[09:10] who likes Israel is concerned about BB
[09:11] because that country is in serious
[09:13] trouble because of him.
[09:15] >> But anyway, but here's my here's my no,
[09:18] you know, here's my red line. I'm not
[09:20] going to be told what to say and I'm
[09:22] definitely not going to be told what to
[09:23] say by a foreign government or its
[09:24] advocates under any circumstance because
[09:27] I'm an American. I care about this
[09:28] country more than any other. To the
[09:30] extent that our interests align, great.
[09:31] When they diverge, I will say so. And
[09:33] I'm not going to be bullied. He said
[09:36] that a million times in public. He said
[09:39] it a million times in private, including
[09:41] to me. And that's just a fact. And like
[09:43] ask anyone who knew him. Andrew Kovette,
[09:45] who's his, you know, was on his show
[09:47] every day with him and a really good
[09:48] friend of his travel with him. He just
[09:50] said that. That's exactly what Charlie
[09:51] thought. So, anyone claiming otherwise
[09:54] is lying. I hate the fact we're even
[09:56] having this conversation. I know
[09:58] >> because I think it diminishes him. It
[10:00] makes his death political or something
[10:02] like in the end like a man's death first
[10:04] and foremost is a tragedy to the people
[10:07] who loved him. And that would start with
[10:08] his wife Erica and their two children
[10:10] and his sister and his parents and his
[10:12] staff and all, you So it's like we're
[10:14] not talking about that because again we
[10:16] have this twin
[10:19] sort of vortex of narcissism and hate.
[10:22] You have the Zionists and you have the
[10:24] anti-semites and they feed off each
[10:26] other in this way that drowns out
[10:28] consideration of anything else. It's so
[10:30] dark. It's so dark. Like it's bad.
[10:37] >> Thanks for watching our YouTube channel.
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