Former Fox News Host Asserts 'Biggest Cause of Human Suffering' in US Is Credit Card Debt: 'It's Not Iran'

During a Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Palm Beach over the weekend, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed the greatest source of human suffering in America is credit card debt.

"Normal people with normal jobs no longer believe they can win in this system and that all the money is going to the worst people, and no one even stops to ask what the hell is going on," Carlson declared during an impassioned, nearly 40-minute speech. "How did Bill Ackman get so rich?" Carlson added, referencing the New York City-based hedge fund billionaire who turned a $27 million investment in credit default swaps into $2.6 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If you're getting rich by loaning money to people at incredibly high interest rates, that's something you're going to have to talk to God about. That is not good, that is not virtuous. That is disgusting" Carlson added, drawing applause.

The former Fox News anchor, now host of "The Tucker Carlson Show," went on to claim that credit card debt poses a greater threat to the U.S. than Iran. Half-jokingly, he suggested launching an "I'm-Not-Paying-My-Credit-Card-Bill Party" to bring down Citibank.

"Credit card debt is the single biggest cause of human suffering that I'm aware of in the United States," he declared. "It's not Iran; Iran's not doing that."

Seemingly anticipating a negative reaction from the conservative audience, Carlson clarified that he wasn't excusing foreign adversaries, adding he was "not a tool of the Ayatollah," but was merely "observing physical reality" and drawing his own conclusions.

"I believe in the things right in front of me, the things I can touch and smell, and the people I can touch and smell are suffering not from Iran; not from Qatar. They're suffering from their credit cards and the inability of their kids to buy a house," Carlson declared.

The Trump ally then challenged the audience to consider how foreign threats could be more pressing than skyrocketing interest rates and urged them to resist predatory debt. He accused financial institutions of targeting young people and even suggested a debt strike, saying people should stop paying both their credit card bills and mortgages.

In the first quarter of 2025, total U.S. credit card debt reached $1.18 trillion, which was a slight decline from the record $1.21 trillion reached in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, credit card debt typically dips in the first quarter before rising again later in the year, Lending Tree reported. The nation's current debt is staggering compared to the $478 billion Americans carried in the first quarter of 1999.