Senator Ted Cruz has been grilled by Tucker Carlson over Iran, with the former Fox News anchor accusing the Republican legislator of knowing nothing about the country where he apparently supports regime change.
The interview clip, with the full video airing on Thursday, comes as cracks have shown in President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (Maga) movement over the possibility of US military intervention in Iran.
“How many people live in Iran, by the way?” Mr Carlson asked the Texas conservative.
Mr Cruz responded: “I don't know the population.”
Mr Carlson then said: “You don't know the population of the country you seek to topple?”
The Republican senator has voiced support for regime change in Iran, saying in a Fox News interview on Sunday that “it is very much in the interest of America”.
“How could you not know that?” Mr Carlson asked. Mr Cruz said he does not “sit around memorising population tables”.
Last week, Israel launched a “pre-emptive” strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure and other military targets, claiming the country was days away from creating a nuclear weapon. Tehran responded by firing a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel.
The conflict has entered a sixth day, with the exchange of aerial fire killing scores of people, including several top Iranian military figures.
Mr Trump appears to be working with members of his cabinet to decide whether to enter the Israel-Iran conflict, saying on Wednesday: “I may do it, I may not do it – I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.”
Mr Carlson continued to press Mr Cruz on Iran in the interview, telling him he does not “know anything about Iran” after the senator was asked to, and correctly identified, the demographic make-up of the country.
A flustered Mr Cruz said “we are carrying out military strikes today”, which Mr Carlson pointed out was contrary to the White House narrative that the US is not currently involved. Mr Cruz then said Israel was striking Iran with US support.
The possibility of the US entering the war has divided Republicans, with some eager to disable Iran's nuclear programme and others pointing out that Mr Trump campaigned on ending costly foreign wars.
The President went on the attack against Mr Carlson this week, saying in post on his Truth Social platform: “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”
The post was apparently in response to an earlier interview Mr Carlson held, in which he asked if a war with Iran would spell the end of the Maga movement.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a strong supporter of Mr Trump, expressed support for Mr Carlson in a post on X. “Foreign wars/intervention/regime change put America last, kill innocent people, are making us broke, and will ultimately lead to our destruction,” she said.
In a previous post, she said: “Anyone slobbering for the US to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/Maga.”
The President, however, seemed unfazed. “My supporters are more in love with me today, and I'm more in love with them, more than they even were at election time where we had a total landslide,” he said.
