What to Know
Vice President JD Vance has lost a member of his press team. According to a report from Politico, Tucker Carlson’s son, Buckley Carlson, has quit his White House job. Buckley was serving as Vance’s deputy press secretary, but has moved on from the role to start his own political consulting firm.
Naturally, some have wondered it there’s more to the story, especially considering the fact that his dad is currently involved in a feud with President Donald Trump.
Buckley started working for Vance in 2025.
A reminder that this Buckley Carlson does not have a public Twitter account and the Buckley Carlson you see on here is Tucker’s brother, not his son. https://t.co/AAMG2ijcli
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 18, 2026
In January 2025, ABC News confirmed that Buckley was working for Vance. His dad, Tucker, has supported President Donald Trump, but not without criticizing him sometimes. That criticism escalated recently in light of Trump’s Iran war. Tucker’s outspoken criticism has prompted Trump to lash out at him on multiple occasions. Trump has referred to Tucker as “a Low IQ person.”
Meanwhile, Tucker is now trying to make money off of Trump’s insults. The Tucker Carlson Network is selling caps that read “LOW IQ.” An ad for the hats said, “Calling all nut jobs, troublemakers, and third rate podcasters! New merch just dropped,” which was also a clear reference to the insults Trump directed at Tucker, per The Independent.
Buckley’s exit plans seem to pre-date this conflict.
Buckley Carlson, the son of Tucker Carlson, has departed the White House, where he served as VP JD Vance’s deputy press secretary, to start his own political consulting firm, @adamwren scoops.
— POLITICO Playbook (@playbookdc) April 18, 2026
More in Playbook ⬇️ https://t.co/jYWqULKFyw pic.twitter.com/YvjVcWolgZ
Although his dad is currently fighting with Trump, Buckley seemingly wanted to quit even before the whole “Low IQ” thing. According to the report from Politico, Buckley actually planned on quitting his job prior to the start of the Iran war. The fact that he continued working for Vance for months after he had planned on quitting suggests that he may have left the position on decent terms.
Politico reported that Buckley told Vance about his decision to leave in December 2025. But for months after that, he continued to work for the vice president “to ensure a smooth transition,” a Vance official told the publication.
Meanwhile, his dad and Trump are still fighting.
Tucker Carlson is now selling “Low IQ“ hats in response to Trump‘s attack on his MAGA critics pic.twitter.com/ENUwvzbElp
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) April 10, 2026
When it comes to some of Trump’s recent controversies, Tucker has not sided with him or defended him. After Trump shared a threatening message for Iran on Easter Sunday, Tucker actually said, “How dare you?” On an episode of his podcast, Tucker said, “How dare you speak that way on Easter morning to the country? Who do you think you are? You’re tweeting out the f- word on Easter morning.”
He added, “So, obviously, you’re mocking the religion of Iran. OK. If you seek a religious war, that’s a good idea. But by the way, no decent person mocks other people’s religions. You may have a problem with the theology. Presumably, you do if it’s not your religion, and you can explain what that is. But to mock other people’s faith is to mock the idea of faith itself.”
He later accused Trump of mocking Christianity as well (because of his AI-generated Jesus image).
Trump recently shared an article about how he is “crushing” Tucker.
On April 17, Trump took to Truth Social to share a Mediaite article titled, “‘He Is Crushing, CRUSHING Tucker Carlson!’ CNN Data Guru Reveals Trump Has Ruined His Old Friend.” Of course, Trump also shared his own commentary, writing, “It’s easy! Tucker is a Low IQ person – Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace'(Really Dumb and mentally ill!), and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried.’ There are others, also! Then we have some that are VERY GOOD, true MAGA all the way, and smart. I should do a list of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle. Wouldn’t that be fascinating??? President DJT.”
In an earlier post, Trump referred to Tucker as a “Hand Flailing Fool” who “couldn’t even finish College.” He said, “He was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!”
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