Tucker Carlson posted a two-minute video to X on Saturday, issuing a public apology for implying that Israeli President Isaac Herzog had visited Jeffrey Epstein’s private island during a Friday interview with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
The apology video accumulated 1.5 million views in under 24 hours, making it one of the most-watched responses of its kind from the former Fox News host.
Carlson stated in the video that he had received a letter from Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office formally denying that Herzog had any contact with Jeffrey Epstein.
“I’ve gotten a lot of letters like this over the years from people alleging, ‘oh you got it wrong,’ but rarely do you get a denial this unequivocal,” Carlson said in the video.
Carlson took the denial seriously, describing it as unusually strong.
“There’s nothing worse than impugning the reputation of an innocent man,” he said. “So I just want to say, clearly, I’m sorry to imply that I knew something I didn’t know.”
The situation originated during Carlson’s two-hour interview with Ambassador Huckabee, in which Carlson referenced an email found in the Epstein files.
The email, dated 2014, was sent by Epstein to Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management.
In the email, Black was invited to visit Epstein’s private island, Little Saint James, and was informed that other guests — including someone identified as “Herzog” — would be present.
Carlson raised the email directly with Huckabee during their exchange. “The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at ‘pedo island.’ That’s what it says,” Carlson told the ambassador. Huckabee immediately disputed the claim as untrue.
Carlson also referenced reporting by Times journalist Gabrielle Weiniger, who had posted a photo appearing to show Herzog with Epstein. Weiniger later issued a correction, stating the image was an “AI fake.”
In the apology video, Carlson explained that he had asked Huckabee about the email on two separate occasions during the interview, but the ambassador denied any knowledge of it.
Carlson noted in the video that protests against Herzog citing the email had taken place when the Israeli president visited Australia, and that Herzog had not publicly responded to those allegations prior to Carlson’s interview.
“At the time I said that, there had been news items about this,” Carlson stated.
Carlson closed the video by reiterating Herzog’s denial. “President Herzog says he’s never had any contact with Epstein, ever, and so I just want to say that in the interest of honesty and transparency,” he said.
The Huckabee interview generated additional controversy beyond the Epstein discussion.
Carlson raised the biblical claim that descendants of Abraham hold entitlement to land spanning much of the modern Middle East and asked the ambassador whether Israel had a right to that land. Huckabee responded, “It would be fine if they took it all.”
Huckabee followed that statement by clarifying that Israel is not seeking to expand its territory. “They’re not trying to take over Jordan. They’re not trying to take over Syria,” Huckabee said.
Despite the clarification, the comments drew formal rebukes from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the League of Arab States.
The interview took place amid escalating tensions between the United States and Iran. Satellite images published Friday showed the U.S. has deployed more than 60 attack aircraft to a military base in Jordan — triple the number normally stationed there.
A separate U.S. fleet was also spotted at a Portuguese air base on Saturday.
Tensions between the U.S., Israel, and Iran have been building since last year’s 12-day conflict, during which the U.S. and Israel struck key nuclear and military sites inside Iran.
President Donald Trump told reporters Friday that he was considering further military action to pressure Iranian officials into negotiating the terms of the country’s nuclear program.
