Tucker Carlson prompts pushback for praising Saudi Arabia: 'I feel completely comfortable'

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson claimed in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that he feels "completely comfortable" there as a Christian, which prompted users on X to clarify that the Islamic kingdom persecutes Christians.

"I'm, for whatever it's worth, a pretty fervent Christian, and I feel completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam," Carlson said during an appearance at the Real Estate Future Forum in Riyadh, footage of which went viral on X. "And why is that? Just saying that is a threat somehow to some people who are propagandists and liars, but it's true, so I'm going to say it."

NOW - Tucker Carlson speaking in Riyadh: "I'm, for whatever it's worth, a pretty fervent Christian and I feel completely comfortable here in the seat of Islam... and just saying that is a threat somehow to some people who are propagandists and liars." pic.twitter.com/spOQDrRsn7

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 28, 2026

Carlson's remark came after he had been discussing his appreciation for the manners and hospitality of Saudi Arabia, claiming many in the United States have a mistaken view of life in the country he first visited last year to attend the same real estate forum.

"There's a cultural quality here that is almost never remarked upon, but that I really value, which is graciousness, politeness, which was a huge feature of the culture that I grew up in and is changing, unfortunately, in parts of the West," said Carlson, who has long lamented the collapse of the upper-class Episcopalianism he was raised in.

"But that was very prized in the world that I grew up in: you know, kindness to strangers, politeness, some formality — not stiffness, but formality — and hospitality. Treating strangers as family. And that was a big part of the world I grew up in. And that exists here," he said.

Carlson also praised the Saudi capital for its "calm," "stability" and "safety," which he contrasted with many Western cities. He described Riyadh as a diverse and "kind of a weirdly free space," where last year he ran into an Orthodox Jew "with mutual friends," who told him, "Yeah, I love it here."

"You run into all these other random people, and it's like, the world needs places like that," Carlson said.

Despite praising Saudi Arabia, Carlson also expressed the hope that prayer and his Christian faith bring him. "I did not consider that God was real or that you could talk to Him or that He would answer," he said of his youth. "And it's only 56 years of rough-and-tumble living that have shown me that that is absolutely true. And it is our only hope in the end."

Footage of Carlson's comments at the forum was slapped with a "community note" on X, which is appended to posts that draw significant pushback from users on the social media platform.

"Christianity is banned in Saudi Arabia, a country with no religious freedom. It is illegal to open a Christian church or preach Christianity," the community note read.

Open Doors US, a U.S.-based nonprofit Christian persecution watchdog group, ranked Saudi Arabia 13th on its 2026 list of the top 50 countries where Christian persecution and discrimination are at a record high.

Home to two of its three holiest sites, Saudi Arabia is inextricable with Islam and leaving the religion is technically punishable by death, though there has been no recent documentation of official executions for doing so, according to Open Doors US. The watchdog gave the country an 82 out of 100 on its persecution ranking, and noted it is marked by Islamic and clan oppression, as well as "dictatorial paranoia" under its absolute monarchy.

The roughly 2.3 million Christians in the country of more than 35 million are prohibited from establishing public churches, forcing Christians underground as they often face persecution from their own clans and families, which is commonplace in many Islamic countries. Saudi Christians discovered to be evangelizing are potentially subject to arrest and deportation.

"Most Muslims who come to Christ in Saudi Arabia will never tell their family about their newfound conviction," a Christian in the country told Open Doors US. "They must live their faith in secret with utmost caution and secrecy. This is why many Saudi Christians suffer from loneliness."

Former first lady Hillary Clinton also spoke and praised Saudi Arabia at the real estate forum Wednesday, according to The New York Times.

"The example that the kingdom is setting for the right kind of development — ambitious, audacious, but organized, focused, bringing people, men and women together to move into the future — that is a very strong model for other parts of the world," she said.