Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson did not pull his punches during a brutal criticism of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday, going as far as to attack the lawmaker’s personal life, which he calls a “disaster.”
“Ted Cruz is also like the saddest member of Congress. His life, personal life, is a true disaster. No respect at all at home, and which is like there’s nothing worse than that,” Carlson said on his show Friday. “I’d rather get beaten in 100 elections than have my wife and kids not respect me. There’s nothing worse than that. I’d rather be dead than that, and I mean it too.”
Carlson and Cruz have clashed over the years, but more recently the two have become more vocal and personal about their differences on President Donald Trump’s war in Iran.
The Texas lawmaker had previously called Carlson a “deranged, leftist psycho” and said that some of his GOP colleagues are too “frightened” to be interviewed on his show following a controversial interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Carlson’s harsh take on the Texas lawmaker comes after a viewer-submitted question asking who he believes the three best and three worst politicians are.
The podcaster names former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent as the best, but “everyone else” being the worst.
Carlson’s producer told him they were surprised “Cruz didn’t get an honorable mention.”
The podcaster then went off on Cruz, telling viewers the lawmaker is “just like this sad, greasy guy who’s been told his entire life that he’s a genius because he has a high verbal IQ.”
“You know, the smartest people, the wisest people, know how absurd they are, and Ted Cruz doesn’t know how absurd he is. Everyone else knows, however, so I just feel sorry for him,” Carlson said.