Mike Huckabee, Tucker Carlson feud over Israeli settler attack on US citizen: 'Deranged'

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a lengthy statement Thursday disputing political commentator Tucker Carlson's characterization of the embassy’s response to an Israeli settler attack against a U.S. citizen that was recorded on video.

"Ambassador Huckabee, this is unreleased video of an American who was beaten almost to death last week by Israeli settlers," Carlson wrote Thursday on X. "You know his name because he came to you for help, but you blew him off. That's disgraceful. Do your job."

In the video Carlson posted, a group of black-clad individuals beat a man with weapons before appearing to set a car on fire and run away. The incident comes amid reports of surging attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians during their annual olive harvest in the West Bank, according to The Associated Press.

Ambassador Huckabee, this is unreleased video of an American who was beaten almost to death last week by Israeli settlers. You know his name because he came to you for help, but you blew him off. That’s disgraceful. Do your job. @GovMikeHuckabee @SecRubio @davidamilstein @WhiteHouse

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 29, 2026

Huckabee responded to Carlson and the video with an X post that began by calling the former Fox News host "deranged."

"He accuses me personally of ignoring a US citizen allegedly attacked in Judea/Samaria by Israelis & says I 'blew him off,'" Huckabee said of Carlson, using the biblical name for the West Bank. "Tucker knows how to contact me, but he'd rather make unfounded accusations than get facts."

Huckabee went on to offer a detailed timeline of the incident, claiming the Embassy Jerusalem American Citizen Services (ACS) first learned of it on Oct. 19 and has not been able to speak directly to the man who was attacked, but only to his son in Chicago, Illinois.

"The son has repeatedly asked that he be the only person with whom we speak with [sic]," Huckabee wrote. "ACS received an email from (son) alleging his father had been attacked at his home in Turmusaya by settlers and was now at Istishari Hospital in Ramallah. We called the son in Chicago the same day and asked for contact information for his father which he was unwilling to provide."

Please follow this entire thread. Tucker Carlson is deranged. He accuses me personally of ignoring a US citizen allegedly attacked in Judea/Samaria by Israelis & says I "blew him off." Tucker knows how to contact me, but he'd rather make unfounded accusations than get facts. Here is a timeline of Embassy Jerusalem American Citizen Services' interactions on this case. We have never been able to speak directly to the father, (name redacted) who was allegedly injured in an attack by settlers, only to his son in Chicago, (name redacted). The son has repeatedly asked that he be the only person with whom we speak with. 19 Oct – ACS received an email from (son) alleging his father had been attacked at his home in Turmusaya by settlers and was now at Istishari Hospital in Ramallah. We called the son in Chicago the same day and asked for contact information for his father which he was unwilling to provide. We followed up the same day with an email to (son). 20 Oct – We followed up with another email to (son) asking for contact information. (Son) asked us to call him. We called the son twice that day and there was no answer. We called the hospital in Ramallah several times but were unable to reach anyone. 21 Oct – Received another email from (son) saying his father was undergoing surgery at the hospital. We called the son in Chicago who said he would send contact information for next of kin in the WB which we didn’t receive. He stated he didn’t want to pursue the matter with the local authorities and said family members would travel from the States to the WB and wanted assurances they wouldn’t be denied entry at the airport. 22 Oct – We spoke again with (son) who subsequently wrote in an email…”Thank you for taking the time to speak with me and for your understanding regarding the tragic incident involving my father. Thank you again for your time, support, and assistance during this difficult time.” We responded in an email that we would like to speak directly with his father or his uncle and asked for local contact numbers. We didn’t receive any numbers. We received another email that same day saying his brother and mother were traveling to the WB from the States and he wanted assurances that they would be allowed in. We also received medical reports and photos passed to us from the son showing the wounds of his father. 23 Oct – We called the hospital in Ramallah but were unable to reach the father. 26 Oct – We called the (son) in Chicago, but no answer. We left a message asking if the brother and mother had arrived and contact numbers for them. We haven’t received a response or contact numbers. Tucker, you can apologize when you find your conscience & acknowledge the facts.

— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) October 29, 2026

Huckabee said continued attempts to contact the man who had been attacked proved unsuccessful, and they also eventually lost contact with the son, who had reportedly expressed gratitude to the embassy for their "time, support, and assistance."

"Tucker, you can apologize when you find your conscience & acknowledge the facts," Huckabee added.

Huckabee visited Turmus Ayya in September, where he met with Palestinian families affected by settler violence, including Palestinian Americans, and called for “severe consequences” for violent settlers, saying “terror is terror,” The Times of Israel reported. He has called the perpetrators terrorists while insisting they do not represent the broader settler population. Some, however, have accused the U.S. Embassy and the Trump administration of not doing enough to protect U.S. citizens caught up in settler attacks. 

Carlson responded to Huckabee's lengthy statement on X by simply observing that the ambassador repeatedly claimed the U.S. citizen had been "allegedly attacked" despite the video evidence. In his Friday morning newsletter, Carlson pinpointed Huckabee's use of the redundant phrase "with whom we speak with" to suggest that "like many of the people running our country, Huckabee is objectively not very smart."

In his original Thursday X post, Carlson tagged the White House, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Huckabee and Huckabee's senior adviser David Milstein, whose closeness with Huckabee has raised concerns regarding the nature of the U.S. ambassador's relationship with the Israeli government.

Milstein, who is the 36-year-old stepson of Fox News host Mark Levin, was recently the subject of an Oct. 8 report by The New York Times, which claimed he had suppressed, revised or delayed cables to Washington from the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem to portray the Israeli government's actions more favorably. Huckabee dismissed the article, which cited 15 current U.S. officials and internal communications, as deficient in its reporting and overly reliant on anonymous sources.

Carlson and Huckabee have been publicly feuding since Carlson conducted a tense, hours-long interview with the ambassador at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel, days before the outbreak of the Iran war earlier this year. Their wide-ranging conversation touched on several hot-button issues, including the theology of Christian Zionism, the identity of Abraham's descendants and the actions of the Israeli government.

Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister and outspoken dispensationalist Christian Zionist, sparked a diplomatic incident during the interview when he said, "it would be fine if [Israel] took it all," in response to Carlson noting that the land promises of Genesis 15 include a vast swath of the Middle East. Though he quickly walked back his remark as "somewhat of a hyperbolic statement," Huckabee prompted outrage from Arab and Muslim nations at the time.

Huckabee has since been denouncing Carlson in the strongest terms, which included promoting an article by activist Laura Loomer in February that likened Carlson to Judas Iscariot and implied he would "spend the rest of eternity getting munched on by Satan in Hell!" During an interview with journalist Miranda Devine earlier this month, Huckabee suggested that Carlson could be demonically possessed or mentally ill.