Tucker Carlson has issued an apology for suggesting that Israel’s president might have visited Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious “pedo island.” The apology came in a video shared on the platform X on Saturday.

Carlson, a well-known former FOX News host, made the insinuation during a conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, in an interview that was made public on Friday.

In a brief two-minute video that garnered 1.5 million views within a day, Carlson stated he had received a “long letter” from Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office. The letter categorically denied any interaction between Herzog and Epstein.

“I’ve received many letters over the years claiming, ‘oh you got it wrong,’ but seldom do you encounter a denial this unequivocal,” Carlson remarked.

He added, “Given the seriousness of the denial, we are treating it with utmost seriousness. There’s nothing worse than tarnishing the name of an innocent person. I want to be clear, I apologize for suggesting that I knew something I didn’t.”

The letter from Herzog’s office followed Carlson’s query to Huckabee about an email from the Epstein files. The email mentioned someone with the surname “Herzog” allegedly visiting Epstein’s infamous Little Saint James island.

‘The current president of Israel, whom I know you know, apparently was at “pedo island.” That’s what it says,’ Carlson told Huckabee during the two-hour interview. 

‘Still-living, high-level Israeli officials are directly implicated in Epstein’s life, if not his crimes, so I think you’d be following this.’

The ambassador to Israel immediately replied that the claim was untrue. 

Carlson also referred to a false report made by The Times reporter Gabrielle Weiniger, who had recently posted a doctored photo of Herzog with Epstein. The reporter later corrected her mistake and said the photo was an ‘AI fake.’

In his apology video, Carlson explained that the email he had asked Huckabee about was dated to 2014, and it was sent by Epstein to his friend Leon Black, the former CEO of Apollo Global Management.

In that email, Carlson said, Black was invited to Little Saint James and was told that other people, including someone named Herzog, would be there. 

Carlson said he asked Huckabee about the email twice, but the ambassador denied knowledge of it.

The celebrity journalist said: ‘At the time I said that, there had been news items about this. In fact, there was a protest against Herzog on the basis of this email when he went to Australia recently, and he hadn’t responded to any of that.’

Carlson concluded his apology video by saying: ‘I also wanted to air his side of this. Again, President Herzog says he’s never had any contact with Epstein, ever, and so I just want to say that in the interest of honesty and transparency.’ 

Although Carlson was forced to apologize for some of his questions during the interview with Huckabee, the ambassador to Israel was criticized for comments he made as well. 

Carlson stated that, according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham are entitled to land that today encompasses much of the Middle East.

In response to whether Israel had a right to that land, Huckabee said: ‘It would be fine if they took it all’.

He added that Israel was not seeking to expand its territory and has a right to maintain security on the land it legitimately holds.

‘We’re talking about this land that Israel, the state of Israel, now lives in and wants to have peace in. They’re not trying to take over Jordan. They’re not trying to take over Syria,’ Huckabee said. 

Despite that clarification, the ambassador’s words drew rebukes from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

The interview came amidst rising tensions between the US and Iran, with the two countries now on a war footing. 

The US has sent more than 60 attack aircraft to a military base in Jordan, satellite images showed on Friday. The fleet is triple the size that is normally stationed there.

Another US fleet was also seen at a Portuguese air base on Saturday.

The US, Israel and Iran have been at odds before, including last year’s 12-day war, when the US and Israel bombed key nuclear and military sites in Iran.

Donald Trump has alluded to striking Iran again in the coming days, telling reporters on Friday that he was considering military action to pressure Iranian officials to negotiate the terms of the country’s nuclear program.