Tucker Carlson and Huckabee had ’emotional’ interview in attempt to mend rift in GOP, says former Fox host who was present

Conservative anti-Israel podcast host Tucker Carlson and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee engaged in a long, productive, and “emotional” conversation earlier today at Ben Gurion Airport, says a friend of both men who helped set up the interview and was present for it.

“Tucker asked a lot of questions that a lot of Americans are asking,” Melissa Francis, a former Fox and CNBC host, tells The Times of Israel in Jerusalem after the interview.

“They came together and did a really good job of answering Tucker’s questions and the ambassador correcting the things that he felt like were wrong,” says Francis, who is in Israel for the 8th time since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

“Huckabee called him out on all those things and challenged him and corrected him today,” she says.

Carlson never the left VIP terminal at Ben Gurion Airport, though Huckabee invited him to remain in Israel for several days.

The meeting between the leading Israel critic and an outspoken Christian Zionist was “professional,” says Francis.

“I think it was emotional,” she continues. “There are strong opinions, but I thought it was a great exchange of views.”

“The ambassador is so well-informed and is an ambassador, a pastor, a governor, and a television extraordinaire, so he’s more than capable dealing with it,” says Francis. “So it just it seemed like it was a great match.”

Francis says that she had dinner with Carlson in Florida a few weeks ago and she invited him to come along for a visit to Israel. He responded that US President Donald Trump has asked him to rein in the fight within the Republican Party over Israel, out of a concern that it was helping the Democratic Party.

According to Francis, Carlson said that he reached out to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to arrange a meeting in Israel, but never received a response.

Francis urged Huckabee to do an interview with Carlson. “I think we all realized that this infighting is terrible for Republicans,” she says.