The PR Fallout of Ted Cruz Versus Tucker Carlson: Yes, It’s Just as Bad as You Heard by Scott Pinsk

[mystery-ak]

The PR Fallout of Ted Cruz Versus Tucker Carlson: Yes, It’s Just as Bad as You Heard
Scott Pinsker | 10:28 PM on June 18, 2025

For political junkies who cut their teeth on “60 Minutes,” “Meet the Press,” CNN, and Fox News, longform podcasts were a godsend. Finally freed of commercial restraints and surface-level superficialities, longform podcasts took you beyond the talking points, treating audiences to a deep dive of a topic’s intricacies. Even when the podcast host had limited knowledge of the subject matter (Joe Rogan, I’m looking at you), the benefit of the longform platform was that it facilitated an open-ended, free-floating conversation where both sides learned more about the other.

But there was an important catch: It only worked when both sides were acting in good faith. You had to really, truly care about what they say. More than anything else, that’s the secret to Joe Rogan’s phenomenal success: He’s genuinely curious about his guests.

He doesn’t invite them on to mock them or belittle them. He’s not trying to settle stupid feuds, score points, or play a political game of “gotcha.” Instead, Rogan respects his guests and wants to learn more.

That sure wasn’t Tucker Carlson’s approach during his astonishingly mean-spirited interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). The ex-Fox News host had absolutely no interest in hearing Cruz’s opinions or to better understand his (and President Trump’s) position on Israel, Iran, or anything else. His purpose wasn’t to have a grown-up conversation about grown-up issues, but to mock and belittle Ted Cruz so the video “goes viral”:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smemFVe0l5E

more
https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2025/06/18/the-pr-fallout-of-ted-cruz-versus-tucker-carlson-yes-its-just-as-bad-as-you-heard-n4940942

[rustynail]

Tucker's gone middle age crazy.

[mountaineer]

Tucker, owned by Qatar, thinks Cruz is owned by Israel. 

[Bigun]

That sure wasn’t Tucker Carlson’s approach during his astonishingly mean-spirited interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). The ex-Fox News host had absolutely no interest in hearing Cruz’s opinions or to better understand his (and President Trump’s) position on Israel, Iran, or anything else. His purpose wasn’t to have a grown-up conversation about grown-up issues, but to mock and belittle Ted Cruz

  Tucker is a self-serving fool just like his good buddy Bill O'reily.

[DB]

Tucker Carlson, the new Alex Jones...

[Smokin Joe]

Ordinarily, I have seen Tucker perform well conducted interviews.
This was not one.

I'm not sure what burr Tucker sat on, or his motives, but this is easily the worst interview I have seen out of him. He never let Cruz finish before he interrupted with another question, and the questions seemed to be aimed at trying to trip Cruz up rather than get an answer.

When the conversation shifts from informative to pejorative, when the interviewee is placed on the defensive, the whole show becomes one person trying to prove a point instead of finding out what's going on. By halfway through, the interview was essentially over as accusations of insult are being traded.

I'm not sure why this went off the rails, but this is not the sort of Tucker Carlson interview I have come to respect and find informative, rather it's a sh*tshow on tape.