Tucker Carlson, the influential American right-wing commentator once synonymous with MAGA fervour, has ignited controversy by announcing plans to buy property in Qatar, signalling a potential relocation to the Gulf country.
During a high-profile interview at the annual Doha Forum with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Carlson praised the city’s beauty.
“I’m an American and a free man, and I’ll [move] wherever I want to be,” he said.
Tucker’s Qatar connection
The former Fox News host’s property announcement was met with a brief round of applause from the audience.
Critics like Laura Loomer, an aide to President Donald Trump, however, were quick to dub him “Tucker Qatarlson” and accused him of having laundered money via real estate, demanding purchase documents.
“The Qatari government could easily give Tucker Carlson a multi million dollar home as “compensation” and then only make him pay $1 for it, and Tucker could still say he bought it. There’s a lot of ways to launder money and pay someone off. Tucker isn’t fooling anyone,” Loomer wrote on X.
Carlson has addressed critics labelling him a “tool of Qatar.”
“I’ve never taken anything from your country and don’t plan to. I am, however, tomorrow buying a place in Qatar,” he stated.
Carlson’s fallout with MAGA fan base
The relocation speculations come amid a perceived shift in Carlson’s MAGA stance.
His recent criticism of Israel and affinity with a “Pakistani cab driver” over “privileged white liberals” in a Piers Morgan chat, are some of the moves that have reportedly alienated him anti-Islam conservatives, according to The New Arab.
Carlson recently interviewed Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist known for white-nationalist and explicitly anti-Semitic views.
Notably, a significant portion of the conversation between Carlson and Qatari PM centred around Israel, Qatar’s regional diplomacy, and the current tensions in the Middle East, including Gaza.
