Outrage after BBC hands platform to far-right Tucker Carlson, who launches attack on Israel

David Toube, General Counsel at the Jewish Leadership Council, criticised the BBC for platforming Carlson.

“The BBC used to operate a cordon sanitaire of sorts in relation to the far right. It is clear that this has now completely collapsed,” Toube told the JC.

Labour MP for Southport Patrick Hurley posted: “Why on Earth is the BBC platforming Tucker Carlson?”

Media watchdog Honest Reporting commented: “Since when was the "impartial" @BBCNews ever interested in what antisemite Tucker Carlson has to say? Only when it suits the BBC's anti-Israel agenda.”

During the interview, Derbyshire challenged Carlson on accusations of antisemitism. “You have said that you have been called antisemitic because of your opposition to the US joining Israel in fighting this war,” she said.

Carlson rejected the allegation.

“Of course I am not an antisemite, and that is why they’re calling me one,” he said. “Because my position on Israel has nothing to do with the religion or ethnicity of Israelis, it has everything to do with decisions made by its government that hurt my country.

"So in order to avoid having that debate, the fastest and most expedient way to end it is by calling the person trying to raise it a bigot and I just don’t think that works anymore.

“What matters in politics and in life is what you do. I think antisemitism and racism of all kinds, including anti-white racism, are all immoral and anti-Christian and I oppose them. We shouldn’t judge people on the basis of how they were born,” he added.

Carlson went on to claim: “The US went to war… at the behest and then the demand of Israel and that is a demand the Israels have made of the US government for decades and President Trump fell for it.”

Asked about Trump, he said: “I feel sorry for him, as I do all slaves. He is not free in this moment to do at all what he thinks is best.

“I don’t think it is as simple as he’s under the control of [Benjamin] Netanyahu, but you could summarise it that way,” he continued.

“All American presidents since 1965 have done substantially what Israel wanted us to do and now it is really hurting us… the problem is the mechanism of control that allows a country of nine million to control a country of 350 million.

“What is the mechanism? I am not sure I know what the answer is. We need to find out what it is.”

He alleged that “the Israeli government has a long and well-documented track record of using sex scandal or the appearance of scandal to force American political leaders into doing its bidding.”

Turning to British politics, Carlson said: “Keir Starmer is every bit as enslaved as Donald Trump is.”

He claimed that “it is a crime for which you can be arrested in Britain right now for criticising Israel. If you say you’re for Palestine Action, you can be arrested. A lot of people have been arrested. So it is not legal in Britain to criticise another country.”

Police make arrests as demonstrators participate in 'Everyone Day', a mass action against the Government's proscription of Palestine Action, in Trafalgar Square on April 11, 2026 in London, England. (Getty Images)Getty Images

When Derbyshire responded, “Palestine Action is a proscribed group, it is banned,” Carlson insisted the group had been “banned because the Israeli government wanted it banned.”

Allegations of antisemitism against Carlson predate the current war with Iran.

The former Fox News host previously platformed white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who appeared on The Tucker Carlson Show and described “organised Jewry in America” as a “big challenge” to his political and social goals.

Fuentes claimed that American Jews have “dual loyalty” to Israel, said “these Zionist Jews” should be removed from the conservative movement, stressed the importance of being “pro-white,” and described himself as a “fan” of Joseph Stalin.

Derbyshire pressed Carlson on the decision to host such figures, asking whether he had “concerns” about “broadcasting Nazi-loving, Holocaust denying guests to your audiences and potentially mainstreaming and normalising those views.”

Carlson said, “I don’t think you should ever attack people on the basis of their blood line,” adding: “If I was an antisemite I guess I would just say so.”

Nick Fuentes (l) and Tucker Carlson (Image: X)[Missing Credit]

Carlson, who has 17.5 million followers on X, has faced criticism in recent weeks over a string of controversial claims, which include alleging that Isaac Herzog visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island, that Qatar and Saudi Arabia had arrested Mossad agents operating in their territories, and portraying Jews as non-indigenous European settlers in Israel.

On his programme, Carlson claimed that Israel’s aim in the war with Iran was to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque and rebuild the Jewish temple, suggesting that the Orthodox Jewish organisation Chabad was involved.

“There are key players involved in this war, the one happening tonight, who believe that what we’re seeing on our television screen and on Twitter will usher in a series of events that will begin with the destruction of the Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa Mosque, and then the rebuilding of the Third Temple,” he said.

“This has been going on a long time in public through, in part, the efforts of a group called Chabad.”

His remarks were amplified by other far-right figures. Candace Owens wrote: “Tucker is telling the truth about Chabad.”

“You should absolutely be aware of where the Chabad is nearest your home. These people are dangerous. They are a radical sect of mystic occultists that follow the idea of a war messiah and they harm kids,” Owens, who also blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks, added in a post on X.

When Carlson was named “Antisemite of the Year,” StopAntisemitism founder and executive director Liora Rez said: “Carlson’s divisive, hateful, and dangerous rhetoric and his repeated glowing interviews with bigots and Hitler apologists have made him the most reviled Jew-hater over the last 12 months.”

At the close of the BBC interview, Derbyshire implied that some of Carlson’s remarks “will be evidence that you are antisemitic, you are anti-Jewish.”

Carlson rejected the suggestion. “You are attempting to call me an antisemite in a passive aggressive way,” he said, adding, “The state of Israel does not speak for all Jews.”

The BBC was approached for comment.