‘You have failed’: Tucker Carlson says Trump doesn’t care about Americans, and his on-air message is the most brutal any ally has said

Tucker Carlson delivered a sharp on-air attack against President Donald Trump on The Tucker Carlson Show, saying, “You have failed.” The remarks mark a clear break from Carlson’s past support for the president, and are the harshest words any of Trump’s former allies have publicly said about him.

Carlson did not mention Trump by name, but his words were clearly aimed at him. He criticized the president’s attitude toward everyday Americans, suggesting Trump looks down on ordinary people. “You hate people like that,” Carlson said. 

“And there may be other reasons you hate them, but you certainly hate them because they are a reminder of how you have failed. You have not done a good job running this country. You don’t even care to try. You’d rather run the world or the empire. You don’t want to improve Baltimore. You don’t care about Gary, Indiana. Rural America makes you sick,” he added, as per Mediaite. 

Tucker Carlson’s break from Trump reflects growing cracks inside the Republican Party

Carlson also criticized Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, calling it the most significant action the administration has taken in the past decade. He argued the war has failed to meet its goals, and that the administration is now turning its attention to attacking those who oppose the conflict.

This is not the first time Carlson has spoken out against Trump. Just last week, he apologized for endorsing the president, and in a moment that drew wide attention, Carlson admitted he was tormented for helping Trump get re-elected. But his latest comments go further and are the most direct and damaging criticism any of Trump’s former backers have made.

Carlson is not the only right-wing figure who has turned on Trump recently. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s loudest supporters, has also spoken out. She claimed that things changed in the White House after Trump returned from his post-presidency, saying people who “fought for him when no one else would” were pushed out and replaced by others who had previously mocked the president.

In an interview with 60 Minutes, Greene said that Republicans in Congress were afraid to speak out against Trump, fearing a “nasty Truth Social post” from him. She also suggested that many of her colleagues had privately mocked Trump before changing their position once he won the Republican primary in 2024.

It is worth noting that Carlson has long been a critic of U.S. involvement in the Middle East and has supported a more isolationist foreign policy. He has also been willing to go after stories others avoided, such as when he dropped an Epstein bombshell the mainstream media ignored. His latest comments are therefore not entirely out of character, but are still a notable escalation in his criticism of the president he once backed.

Despite all of this, Carlson’s remarks are not likely to shake Trump’s base. Trump has always been resistant to public criticism, and his core supporters remain loyal to him. Still, the fact that figures like Carlson and Greene are speaking out so openly points to real divisions growing within the Republican Party.