Security Footage Undercuts Tucker Carlson’s Israeli Airport ‘Detention’ Story

Security footage from Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport released on Thursday appears to contradict claims by conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that he was “detained” and “hauled” off to an interrogation room while trying to catch a flight home.The video, obtained by internet personality Oli London, shows Mr. Carlson at the airport’s VIP terminal interacting cordially with officials and even wrapping his arm around one employee while posing for a photo.The footage suggests a scene far different from the account Mr. Carlson gave the Daily Mail on Wednesday. After concluding his interview with the American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, Mr. Carlson claimed that he and his colleagues experienced a “bizarre” confrontation with airport security while trying to fly out of the country.“Men who identified themselves as airport security took our passports, hauled our executive producer into a side room and then demanded to know what we spoke to Ambassador Huckabee about,” Mr. Carlson told the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail also suggested that Mr. Carlson’s decision to conduct the interview at the airport — without actually entering the country — was a consequence of Israel’s “hostility” toward the former Fox News host.American and Israeli officials swiftly denied the claims, saying Mr. Carlson and his crew were subject to standard security procedures.“EVERYONE who comes in/out of Israel (every country for that matter) has passports checked & routinely asked security questions,” Mr. Huckabee wrote on X. “Even ME going in/out with Diplomatic Passport & Diplomatic Visa.”Israel’s Airport Authority denied that Mr. Carlson and his entourage were “detained, delayed, or interrogated,” saying instead that they were “politely asked a few routine questions, in accordance with standard procedures applied to many travelers.” The authority added that the conversation took place in a “separate room” within the VIP terminal to protect their privacy.A spokesman for the American Embassy also pushed back on the suggestion that Israel was responsible for Mr. Carlson’s in-and-out visit. “It is not accurate that Israel only was going to let Tucker into the country for the interview,” the representative said.Investigative journalist and Trump ally Laura Loomer later charged that the Daily Mail reporter who wrote the story, Phillip Nieto, previously worked for Mr. Carlson at the Daily Caller. “Tucker is now using his former employees to post lies about Israel and the Trump admin,” Ms. Loomer wrote on X, calling for him to be “banned from stepping foot inside the White House ever again.”Mr. Huckabee had previously feuded with Mr. Carlson, calling him out for criticizing the ambassador’s diplomacy without ever engaging with him directly.Mr. Carlson has spent recent weeks traveling through the Middle East, interviewing Christian figures about life in the Levant for his podcast, “The Tucker Carlson Network.” His episodes portray Israel as systematically targeting and displacing the region’s Christian population — a characterization that many Christians in Israel, including Mr. Huckabee, have denied.

Security Footage Undercuts Tucker Carlson’s Israeli Airport ‘Detention’ Story

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