The government of Iran says and does many things, most of which are either morally repulsive — killing girls for the “sin” of showing their hair, for example — or obvious, ridiculous, outlandish lies. Some of their classic lies include an Iranian-designed, super-advanced stealth fighter plane that was, apparently, made out of plastic; shenanigans over monkeys in space; using video game content as “war footage”; bogus boasts of military victories; and claiming to have “complete control over the skies of Israel”… even as downtown Tehran was being transformed into an open-air fireball.
(Not to mention the ongoing fib about a country that’s swimming in oil needing a nuclear power plant — in the heart of a mountain — for purely “civilian” uses.)
So they’re not exactly sticklers for the truth.
This is why Western news outlets don’t mindlessly regurgitate Iranian government memos: They’re not a credible news source. Sure, the official statements of Iranian leaders will be included in the larger story, but if the journalist failed to provide context for the Iranian claims, then it’s not really news — it’s misleading, one-sided propaganda.
Enter Tucker Carlson.
He’ll be releasing an “exclusive” interview with the president of Iran, and Tucker is letting us know from the get-go that he didn’t bother with anything hard-hitting:
Tucker Carlson announces his interview with Iran's president.pic.twitter.com/2I81AJwbCa
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) July 5, 2025
The former primetime anchor said he didn’t bother asking Pezeshkian certain questions, such as the state of the nation’s nuclear capabilities after the US bombing, which the Pentagon has said set the program back around two years.
“There’s no chance he’s going to answer that question honestly. I didn’t bother to ask it. The answer, in fact, from an American perspective, even from the CIA’s perspective, is unknowable. So we dispense with those,” he said.
Instead, he said he asked the Iranian president, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
Ah, with Ted Cruz, he asks the hardball questions; with the Iranian president, it’s softballs and lollypops.
Question: Why does Tucker assume that the Iranian president would be honest about disclosing his “goal” if/when being honest isn’t strategically helpful to the Iranian regime? He’s already acknowledged that they lie when it suits their purpose.
They’re not a credible narrator: They’re a fundamentalist, regressive, Islamic regime that chants “Death to America.”
Is there value to listening to liars? Sometimes: When people lie, they tell you the truth about what they want you to believe. And I’m sure the historians of 2025 would do a happy-dance if they stumbled across some long-lost footage of Adolf Hitler being interviewed in the 1930s; it might provide new insights into the mind of a madman.
Knowledge for its own sake isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But there’s a considerable difference between being an academic researching historical figures; being a newsman reporting the news of today; and serving as a propagandist for a brutal, repressive, anti-American regime.
Joseph Goebbels wasn’t a newsman. He was a propagandist.
The bottom line? If Carlson’s upcoming “interview” was nothing more than a noncritical, “safe space” platform for an avowed American enemy to promote and publicize his government’s anti-American talking points, then it’s not journalism. That’s anti-American PR: You’re helping a client produce and disseminate a promotional video.
Traditionally, clients pay PR pros with money. But in today’s attention-driven marketplace, attention itself is currency. And with this Iranian “interview,” Carlson will be richly rewarded with globs and globs of delicious, mouthwatering attention.
Carlson’s PR stunt with the president of Iran is many, many things. But it’s not journalism, and it’s absolutely not “America First.”
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