'I'm sorry for misleading people': Tucker Carlson regrets backing Donald Trump

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson said he owes his followers an apology for his past support for President Donald Trump. Carlson, a former Trump ally, recently hosted his brother, Buckley Carlson, a former speechwriter for the President, where the two discussed the "betrayal" they felt by Trump's current policies at 'The Tucker Carlson Show'. At the start of the podcast, Tucker called current times "a weird moment...where a lot of people who really like Trump are very disappointed in Trump." "In fact, more than disappointed—feel betrayed or enraged," he added. 

After discussing why Buckley had supported Trump and how the President may have reneged on his campaign promises, Tucker, at a point in the podcast, said, "You know, we'll be tormented by it for a long time—I will be," adding, "And I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional, that's all I'll say." Tucker said that he feels "implicated" in the ongoing Iran conflict, which the brothers argued was against Trump's America First promises. "You and I and everyone else who supported him—you wrote speeches for him, I campaigned for him—I mean, we're implicated in this for sure," Tucker said. "It's not enough to say, 'Well, I changed my mind'—or like, 'Oh, this is bad—I'm out.'"

Buckley, meanwhile, indicated that President Trump's decision to launch Operation Epic Fury was at the behest of Israel. "The enormous amount of money he got from Miriam Adelson now seems suspect to a lot of people at the time," he said, inviting a laugh from Tucker. "It's still reprehensible, and it's still a big question mark. Why would someone who has obvious and demonstrated allegiance to a foreign power give Donald Trump $250 million while he's running for President," he added. 

Since the beginning of Operation Fury on February 28, Tucker has, on several occasions, claimed that President Trump was forced into the war by Israel. In a recent Newsmax interview, Tucker said, "I've always liked Trump and still feel sorry for him—as I do for all slaves...He's hemmed in by other forces. He can't make his own decisions. It's awful to watch." He repeated this view on Monday's podcast, saying that Trump clearly had no plan for the war and that he did it against his will.

White House officials have not made a formal statement about Carlson's recent "torment" comments. However, President Trump, last week, lashed out at several of his right-wing supporters who have been critical of his military policy in the Middle East, including Tucker. "I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years...Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs," Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post. "They're stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too!"