Buckley Carlson, son of prominent conservative figure Tucker Carlson, has resigned from his position as deputy press secretary to Vice President JD Vance. This move coincides with his father’s intensifying conflict with President Donald Trump.
The news of Carlson’s resignation was initially covered by Politico, highlighting the growing discord between Trump and Tucker Carlson.
The friction has been exacerbated by significant disagreements regarding policies on the Iran war, further inflamed by Tucker Carlson’s provocative remark branding the president as potentially the ‘antichrist.’
Moving forward, Buckley Carlson intends to establish his own political consulting venture.
A representative from Vance’s office disclosed to the publication that, “Buckley communicated his decision to leave in December but remained for several months to ensure a seamless transition.”
His departure comes as his father, who was once one of Trump’s most influential media allies, has turned into one of his fiercest critics, particularly over the administration’s military campaign against Iran.
Behind the scenes, Tucker Carlson had attempted to stop the war days before Trump launched attacks.
According to The New York Times, he was among the ‘few voices lobbying against military action’ and personally warned Trump of the consequences.
Buckley Carlson has left his role as deputy press secretary to Vice President JD Vance after months of planning his exit
Tucker Carlson called out a Truth Social post from Trump showing him being embraced by Jesus, which Carlson said mimicked warnings from the Bible
Buckley Carlson’s exit comes as his father Tucker Carlson’s feud with Donald Trump intensifies
The outlet reported on March 2 that Carlson ‘outlined the risks to US military personnel, energy prices and Arab partners in the region if the United States went to war with Iran,’ and urged the president not to be ‘boxed in by Israel,’ arguing that its push for confrontation was driving US policy.
Carlson’s advice was ignored and in the weeks since, the former Fox News host has unleashed a barrage of criticism, accusing the administration of waging war on behalf of Israel and denouncing the joint US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as ‘absolutely disgusting and evil.’
Trump has responded with characteristic fury.
In a series of public attacks, the president has repeatedly mocked Carlson, calling him a ‘low IQ’ person and, in a Truth Social post earlier this month, lumped him together with other conservative commentators.
‘I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years,’ Trump wrote. ‘Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs.
‘They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! … They’ve all been thrown off Television… they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS.’
Days later, Trump doubled down, calling Carlson a ‘LOSER’ and suggesting he ‘should see a good psychiatrist.’
But it was Carlson’s own words that detonated the most extraordinary escalation yet.
Carlson was previously a fervent Trump supporter, but has recently emerged as a leading critic of the president
Pope Leo has also become a vocal critic of Trump’s war with Iran in recent weeks
Buckley Carlson, the son of conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, had been the deputy press secretary to Vice President JD Vance
On a recent episode of The Tucker Carlson Show, the conservative firebrand broke sharply with the president over religion, accusing Trump of ‘mocking’ Christianity after sharing AI-generated images depicting himself alongside Jesus.
Carlson pointed to biblical warnings about a future figure described as a ‘man of lawlessness,’ often interpreted by some Christians as the antichrist – someone who ‘will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is worshipped.’
‘He will pose as God,’ Carlson said on the show. ‘He will mock other Gods, and put himself in their place.’
Referencing those passages, Carlson posed a question that sent shockwaves through conservative circles: ‘Could this be the antichrist?’
‘To a lot of Christians, these predictions in both the Old and New Testament seem to fit what we are watching… Here is a leader who is mocking the Gods of his ancestors… and exalting himself above them,’ he added.
Trump’s post showing himself with Jesus came days after the president also sparked backlash by sharing an image appearing to depict himself as Christ.
The image showed Trump in a white cloak healing a man in a hospital bed, which Trump later claimed was meant to show him as a doctor and not as Jesus.
Carlson was one of Fox News’s biggest stars until his abrupt firing in 2023 and was once close to Trump, whose views he was credited with strongly influencing.
The star has gone on to host a successful podcast and blasted Trump over his support of Israel and the bombing of Iran.
The remarks marked a dramatic break from a commentator who once championed Trump and was widely seen as helping shape the populist wing of the Republican Party.
While there is no indication Buckley Carlson’s departure was directly tied to his father’s comments, the overlap in timing, between his exit, the intensifying Trump-Carlson feud, and the incendiary ‘antichrist’ remarks underscores the growing instability within a movement once defined by its alignment behind Trump.
Trump also sparked furious backlash after he posted an AI-generated image seemingly depicting himself as Jesus Christ earlier this week
The fallout has rippled through the conservative ecosystem and placed Vice President JD Vance in an increasingly delicate position.
Right-wing commentator Ben Shapiro, who has his own ongoing feud with Carlson, said last week that people should ‘feel a little bit bad’ for Vance, noting that Carlson ‘helped’ him rise politically.
But Shapiro argued Vance must now distance himself, warning that continuing to ‘honor garbage’ like Carlson risks fracturing the coalition Republicans need to win upcoming elections.
That fracture now appears to have reached inside the administration itself.
