The former Fox News host and popular podcaster used an interview Monday with former CNN host Chris Cuomo to make an incendiary claim about Cotton, the Republican senator from Arkansas.
And Cotton wasted no time in responding.
In his interview with Cuomo, Carlson claimed — without citing a source — that Cotton had used his post on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (Cotton is the committee’s chairman) to obstruct the hiring of an individual in an intelligence position because the individual would push for the release of files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
The segment is below:
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“In January there was a scramble over who’s gonna get what jobs in the new administration,” Carlson said, about the 44-minute mark in the video above.
“At one point there was someone who was being discussed for a job in the intel world, and a member of the SSCI, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Intel Committee, went to the people making the decision and said, ‘You cannot hire this person because this person will be certain to push for the release of the JFK files,’” Carlson said.
“So this is in — this is fact — this is in 2025, less than two months ago, and you have a sitting member of the United States Senate whose main goal is to keep those files secret. Then you have to ask yourself, ‘Why?’”
Carlson noted how much time has passed and how much information has come to light about covert activities since Kennedy was killed.
“If you’re telling me that six weeks ago, a member of the United States Senate was trying to keep someone out of a job in order to keep these files secret, that is to protect the CIA, I don’t believe that for a second.”
Carlson then asserted there continues to be a high-level conspiracy surrounding the Kennedy assassination.
When Cuomo later pressed Carlson for the identity of that senator, Carlson barely hesitated:
“Tom Cotton of Arkansas did that,” he said, about the 50:19 mark.
Cuomo then pressed Carlson on whether he’d asked Cotton about it personally.
“I didn’t sit down with him,” Carlson said, about the 50:40 mark. “I’m not sure he will do an interview with me.
In a post on the social media platform X published early Tuesday morning, Cotton shot back an unqualified denial.
“This is false. I have no problem releasing the ‘JFK files,’” Cotton wrote. “Had @tuckercarlson asked me, I would’ve told him.”
“I would’ve explained that I’ve never spoken to President Trump or his associates or administration officials about the files, never objected to the appointment of any person because of the files, and have complete faith that Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and other officials will release the files as appropriate in accordance with President Trump’s directive.”
