Conservative firebrand Mark Levin unloaded on former Fox News colleague Tucker Carlson in a blistering on-air rant Friday, calling him a “Nazi promoter” and a “modern-day David Duke” after Carlson invited him to a public debate at an upcoming Turning Point USA event.
Levin revealed the text exchange during The Mark Levin Show, reading what he described as a “verbatim” transcript of their conversation. The veteran radio host said Carlson reached out earlier in the day to propose a face-to-face debate in December — an offer Levin rejected outright.
“I’d rather debate a skunk,” Levin said. “My family and I want nothing to do with you [and] what you’ve become — your vile libels against my faith, millions of Christians, and in my view, what you seek to do to our country. There’s nothing to debate. You’re a Nazi promoter. You’re the modern-day David Duke.”
Levin then blasted Carlson’s recent decision to host extremist Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist and Holocaust denier, on his show. “What would Charlie [Kirk] say? What would Rush [Limbaugh] say?” Levin asked rhetorically, referring to the Turning Point USA founder and his late mentor. “Charlie Kirk would be sickened.”
According to Levin, Carlson responded to the rejection within minutes.
“For the record, I’m strongly anti-Nazi,” Carlson allegedly wrote. “But that’s hardly the point. This seems like the perfect opportunity to rebut what you consider evil ideas, and to do it to my face like a man. I think you’d jump at the chance, assuming you believe your positions are defensible. I’m offering the marketplace of ideas you often talk about — is it possible you can’t really defend, for example, what Israel has done to civilians in Gaza?”
Levin said he replied that Carlson was not feared, but “despised.”
Carlson’s final message, according to Levin, was brief and cutting: “Well, you’re a coward. If you change your mind, I’m here. Thanks.”
That set Levin off. “He’s a little bastard,” Levin fumed. “He’s attacked my stepson — who is serving honorably as a senior advisor to Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel. This guy has no shame.”
Later in the broadcast, Levin accused Carlson of committing an “unspeakable betrayal” against Turning Point USA and its founder, Charlie Kirk, by platforming Fuentes, whom Levin described as “Kirk’s enemy.”
“It’s not about free speech,” Levin said. “You could be heard by millions. This is about decency. Tucker has figured out that the more disgusting, heinous, racist, bigoted, antisemitic, anti-American things he can say, the better it is for his video podcast. He’s chasing outrage for profit.”
The remarks mark the latest in a growing feud between the two right-wing figures, once aligned under Fox News’ conservative banner. Their relationship soured following Carlson’s ouster from Fox in 2023, with Levin repeatedly criticizing Carlson’s post-network ventures — including The Tucker Carlson Show and his controversial interviews with foreign leaders and fringe figures.
Levin ended his broadcast with a final parting shot: “Tucker Carlson has betrayed every value he once claimed to hold. This isn’t journalism. It’s poison — and I want nothing to do with it.”
