Political analysts and observers were agog on Saturday after Tucker Carlson had his words thrown back in his face during an interview with the New York Times. Carlson sat down with the NYT's Lulu Garcia-Navarro for a wide-ranging interview about his work and current relationship with President Donald Trump. At one point, Garcia-Navarro asked Carlson about his previous comment, in which he called Trump the "antichrist." Carlson denied making the remark, but was swiftly reminded of it when Garcia-Navarro read his words back to him."On the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing-in ceremony as president ...," Garcia-Navarro began. "Correct," Carlson agreed. "And I'm quoting, 'Maybe he didn't put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what's inside that book,'" Garcia-Navarro said. "And then on a recent show, you went further, saying, 'Here's a leader who is mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the god of gods, and exalting himself above them. Could this be the antichrist?'" Carlson denied saying the word "antichrist," but the NYT played a clip of him saying what Garcia-Navarro read to him. "I don't know where those words come from, but they never left my lips," Carlson said, doubling down on his denial. Political observers and analysts were astonished by the clip and reacted on social media. "What a kook," Jason Kenney, the former premier of Alberta, Canada, posted on X. "Tucker is such a liar," ex-GOP lawmaker Joe Walsh posted on X. "Uh oh. Looks like someone’s bag is being threatened, and he’s backtracking like a little b----," John Rocha, a film critic, posted on X. "Maybe he saw what happened to Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wackjob site and is afraid to lose stacks of cash too. I hope we’re finally waking up to the nonsense of all of these circus clowns."NYT: “You’ve been talking on your show about whether Trump is the Antichrist”Tucker Carlson: “I have not said that”NYT: *plays clip of him saying that* pic.twitter.com/L0sUQnfhpb— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) May 2, 2026