Far Right pundit Tucker Carlson issued a formal apology to President Isaac Herzog, retracting statements that he had ties to late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein, in an interview with US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, via a post on X/Twitter.
The President's Office issued a letter to Carlson, entirely denying any direct or indirect contact between Herzog and Epstein, which Carlson stated triggered the apology.
Carlson clarified that his claims that Herzog had connections to Epstein were unfounded and that he "didn't mean to suggest" he had any factual knowledge of such a relationship between the two.
"There is nothing worse than impugning the reputation of an innocent man... I’m sorry to imply that I knew something I didn’t know." Carlson said in the video.
Carlson apologizes to Herzog for falsely claiming that he knew Epstein
Carlson’s assertion was reportedly based on a 2014 email released by the US Justice Department as part of the broader investigation into Epstein's activities and relationships.
The email in question was sent by Epstein to billionaire Leon Black's secretary, in which Epstein purportedly claimed that Herzog, then the leader of Israel's Labor Party and the parliamentary opposition, would be a guest at his private residence.
In his apology on X/Twitter, Carlson admitted he relied on this document as evidence of a visit without independent verification, stating he "didn't mean to suggest" he had factual knowledge of Herzog’s presence on the island.
Reviews of the released Epstein files indicated that Herzog’s name is found exclusively within forwarded news reports that were sent to Epstein’s inbox. No evidence has surfaced in flight logs, party guest lists, or personal correspondence of any relationship or meeting between the two men.
The denial also came in the wake of a debunked "photo" published by The Times and circulated on social media, purportedly showing Herzog with Epstein. Investigators confirmed the image was AI-generated.
Gabrielle Sivia Weiniger, the Australian-based journalist responsible for posting the AI image, issued a formal apology for her failure to verify the source of the image.
"I mistakenly posted a photo of President Herzog, without checking the source, and I am sorry for that," she wrote in a post on X.