Tucker Carlson's claims that he and his staff members were harassed by Israeli authorities after he interviewed U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee are "ridiculous," the ambassador himself told Newsmax on Thursday.
"Something has surfaced that totally blows this out of the water," Huckabee said on Newsmax's "American Agenda."
"Tucker Carlson is seen on surveillance video in the lounge, and he's hugging and taking photos with the very airport employees that supposedly detained him and harassed him."
Carlson told The Daily Mail on Wednesday that after he interviewed Huckabee, "men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room, and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about."
"It was bizarre," Carlson said. "We're now out of the country."
But Huckabee, calling Carlson's claims "really unfortunate," went on to mock his description of the events.
"I'll tell you, they roughed him up with all kinds of special snacks. They took his picture, they hugged him," he said.
"For this ridiculously untrue story about how he was detained, he was not," the ambassador said.
Israeli officials and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett have publicly denied the allegation, with Bennett calling Carlson a "chicken [expletive]."
"The guy who's been spouting lies about Israel for the past two years, landed today at Ben Gurion airport, took a quick picture in the logistics zone, tweeted it to pretend he's actually IN Israel (so he can later claim that he's a serious reporter who toured Israel), didn't even step foot in country, then made up a story that he's being supposedly harassed by our security (didn't happen), whined about it, got back into the private jet and flew off," Bennett posted on X.
"Next time he talks about Israel as if he's some expert, just remember this guy is a phony!" he added.
Huckabee told Newsmax that normal screening at Israeli airports applies broadly, including to him.
"They looked at his passport. They looked at everybody's passport," he said.
"They asked him the standard questions they ask everyone coming in or out of the country."
Huckabee added that he always has to show his own diplomatic visa every time he comes or goes from Israel, "and they ask me the same questions."
The dustup previewed a hotly anticipated sit-down between two sharply different wings of the Christian MAGA coalition, as their public clashes over Israel mirror a broader rift inside the Republican Party, according to The Jewish News.
Carlson, an influential voice on the right, has increasingly echoed anti-Israel themes on his show, which has drawn a growing number of younger right-leaning candidates and online personalities toward his position.
Huckabee, by contrast, is a prominent evangelical Christian Zionist who has advocated Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
Huckabee publicly pressed Carlson for an interview after Carlson criticized him on his podcast over what Carlson called a failure to push back on Israeli demonization of Christians.
Carlson ultimately agreed, later posting a photo of himself arriving Wednesday ahead of the interview.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX :
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.