Tucker Carlson on Nick Fuentes interview criticism: 'You're not my editor'

Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson rebuffed critics of an interview he recently conducted with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, expressing no regret about hosting the right-wing figure on his podcast and online show.

“You know, do your own interview the way that you want to do it. You’re not my editor. Buzz off," Carlson said during an interview with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM show. "I mean, I don’t know."

"You want to go yell at Nick Fuentes? I’ll give you his cell," he said in comments first highlighted by Mediaite. "Call him and go sit and yell at him and feel virtuous or whatever."

Carlson added he feels similarly about the backlash to his talk with Fuentes as he did about the response to his sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in February, which was widely panned at the time.

“Why aren’t you yelling at him. ... OK, why? So, I can show that I’m a good person," he said. "I care about what my wife thinks, my children think, and God thinks. And that’s it. I don’t need to prove that I am a good person to you."

"You may think I’m a terrible person. OK, I’m just doing my thing, which is, I want to understand what people think," the pundit continued. "And I’m committed to that. And if you don’t like it, don’t watch. That’s my view."

Carlson's decision to host Fuentes has sparked widespread debate across the political right, most notably at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Heritage President Kevin Roberts became the target of another round of negative headlines when he initially voiced support for Carlson over the interview before later apologizing and explaining that the organization does not condone Fuentes or his views.

Carlson, a favorite commentator of President Trump, has since leaving Fox used his online show and media company to host a number of controversial guests.