The video, released amid debate over how much the United States should get involved, has drawn at least 23 million views on X.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) engaged in a heated discussion over whether the United States should get involved in the Israel–Iran aerial conflict that started this past week.
In a video released by Carlson on June 17 on his X social media account, he asks Cruz a series of questions about Iran and its demographics as the two men escalate their rhetoric. The clip has drawn more than 23 million views, or impressions, on X.
In an earlier X post that appeared to promote the interview, Cruz wrote: “Yep, I stand with Trump. Iran can’t have a nuclear bomb. Make sure you tune in tomorrow.”
Yep, I stand with Trump. Iran can’t have a nuclear bomb. Make sure you tune in tomorrow. https://t.co/fGlJAbK8o4 pic.twitter.com/uoGZbltdGe
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 18, 2025
“How many people live in Iran, by the way?” Carlson asked Cruz.
“I don’t know the population,” Cruz responded.
“At all?” Carlson then asked
“No, I don’t know the population,” Cruz said.
“You don’t know the population in the country you seek to topple?” Carlson asked, adding that Iran has a population of roughly 92 million.
“Why is it relevant whether it’s 90 million or 80 million or 100 million—why is that relevant?” Cruz asked.
Carlson then asked about Iran’s ethnic makeup. Cruz said it was Persian and that they were mostly adherents of Shia Islam. The two then started talking over one another.
On multiple occasions, Carlson accused Cruz of not knowing enough about Iran and suggested Cruz wants the United States to overthrow the country’s regime and its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“No, you don’t know anything about the country,” Cruz then said. “You’re the one who claims they’re not trying to murder [President] Donald Trump. You’re the one who can’t figure out if it was a good idea to kill General [Qasem] Soleimani, and you said it was bad.”
Cruz’s first statement referred to U.S. officials having prosecuted individuals accused of plotting to kill Trump who were allegedly backed by the Iranian regime. Similar statements were made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Fox News interview over the past weekend.
Soleimani was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2020.
Later on, Cruz said, “We are carrying out military strikes today,” to which Carlson pressed the senator on why he used the term “we.”
