Tucker Carlson consistently ranks among the top 20 podcasts on platforms like Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. But the far-right influencer made a rather bizarre admission about technology on his show this past Tuesday. The former Fox News host claims he doesn’t own a computer. Why? Carlson says he doesn’t want the CIA to plant “kiddie porn” on it.
The topic came up when Carlson was speaking with his guest, MAGA commentator Saagar Enjeti, about Jefferey Epstein and the Department of Justice’s insistence that there was nothing more to release about the late pedophile. DOJ released almost 11 hours of security camera video this week, purporting to show Epstein in jail, but a minute was missing, just leading to more conspiracy theories. DOJ also released a letter claiming the only other videos held by the agency were child sexual abuse material, not evidence of powerful people committing crimes with Epstein.
Carlson said there were two possible reasons why the DOJ was refusing to release more information on the Epstein case. The first was that Trump was in the files, though Carlson said he didn’t think that was true.
“For whatever his sins, I don’t think he’s that guy, actually. I don’t think he likes creepy sex stuff,” Carlson said. Trump, of course, has said a lot of creepy, sexual things over the years, including repeated comments about his own daughter Ivanka. In 2006, for example, Trump said that if Ivanka wasn’t his daughter he’d be dating her. Trump was also friends with Epstein, and there are countless photos of the two men together.
Carlson went on to say the other possibility was that U.S. and Israeli intelligence services were involved in the Epstein story and that “they’re being protected.” Enjeti agreed, saying there were “multiple documented cases” of the CIA being involved in pedophilia, perpetrated by CIA officers.
But then Carlson revealed something rather odd about his own tech use. Carlson said that he doesn’t even own a computer due to his fear that an intelligence agency will frame him with child sexual abuse material.
“Well, when they want to crush you, they put kiddie porn on your computer. That’s why I don’t have a computer. Don’t want one. That’s why. No computer in my house,” Carlson said.
Obviously, that’s a rather drastic measure to take, but it would be perfectly doable if you’re a millionaire who can afford to be completely disconnected from conversations online. But it does raise questions about how Carlson consumes media. Smartphones are just computers in handheld form. Does Carlson own a smartphone? Does he believe that an agency like CIA would be able to plant “kiddie porn” on a laptop but not on a phone?
One of Carlson’s past sponsors is a company called Unplugged, which bills itself as the ultimate privacy protector. “Unplugged exists to fight, reclaim, and defend data privacy and freedoms,” the company explains on its website. Unplugged was started by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of disgraced mercenary firm Blackwater, so you can guess how much anyone should trust those claims. But perhaps Carlson was just doing a subtle pitch for one of his sponsors. Who knows?
Carlson has been a frequent critic of the CIA, though his family has ties to some of the very things he criticizes on his show regularly. Carlson’s father, Richard Warner Carlson, was the head of Voice of America under President Ronald Reagan from 1986-1991. Tucker was reportedly rejected when he applied to work at the CIA as a younger man, something Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed to tease him about on stage during an interview in 2024.
Carlson’s episode on Tuesday also got into other topics that may have been surprising to the MAGA world, including a moment when he criticized the sports gambling and cryptocurrency industries. “They’re preying, as the crypto people do, sorry, on the frustration and sadness of young men who know they’re never going to be able to afford a wife, kids, and a house,” Carlson said. Trump himself has become deeply involved in crypto, with holdings worth about $1 billion according to recent estimates from Forbes.
Gizmodo has attempted to email Carlson’s company, known as the Tucker Carlson Network, to ask about his tech use but we don’t know how he’ll respond without access to a computer. If you’re reading this, Tucker, please send us a message. Carrier pigeon, smoke signals, whatever you got.
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