What did Tucker Carlson say about Dietrich Bonhoeffer? Ted Cruz reiterates that Charlie Kirk deeply admired the German pastor

In the latest episode of the Tucker Carlson Show, the journalist spoke against commentators like Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin. Accusing them of routinely labeling their political opponents as "Nazis," Carlson said:

"Because once you start calling people Nazis, we really have no choice but to start shooting them. To be Dietrich Bonhoeffer and sort of reach the end of reason, or even Christianity. Bonhoeffer decided Christianity's not even - he was a Lutheran pastor - Christianity is not enough, we have to kill the guy."

For the unversed, 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who was imprisoned by Hitler for helping Jewish Germans escape to Switzerland. 

Bonhoeffer, who was a founding member for the Christian resistance movement called the Confessing Church, was also linked to the resistance circle that was behind the failed plot of Hitler's assassination in July 1944. 

A year later, in April 1945, Bonhoeffer was hung at Bavaria's Flossenburg concentration camp by the Third Reich.

After his death, the pastor became one of the most revered martyrs of the 20th century.

Charlie Kirk deeply admired Bonhoeffer, his deep Christian faith and his profound moral courage and clarity.#CharlieWasRight https://t.co/3DLdoWb5wD

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 14, 2025

Carlson's harsh remarks about Bonhoeffer illicited a strong backlash, with Ted Cruz being one of those who opposed his views.

Cruz retweeted an old video of Charlie Kirk in which he expressed his deep admiration for the martyred German pastor. In the clip, Kirk said:

"We want a thousand Dietrich Bonhoeffers. We're not gonna say, like, we're going to create them. I wanna find them and encourage them, that's it... Bonhoeffer is the example of, 'hey, I'm willing to sacrifice everything I have for God's purpose on Earth'."

In the caption of the tweet Cruz retweeted, Carlson was accused of being an "anti-Kirk," "anti-Bonhoeffer," a "charlatan" and a "coward".

​Tucker Carlson's words offended Bonhoeffer's biographer

Tucker's statements about Bonhoeffer are WRONG. It's seriously shocking he would say these things. Bonhoeffer did not advocate MURDER, which would have been sinful, but he did understand that within a just war people are KILLED. Will Tucker now condemn David for killing Goliath? https://t.co/edcZd1fTyl

— Eric Metaxas (@ericmetaxas) November 13, 2025

Among all the netizens who found Tucker Carlson's words about Dietrich Bonhoeffer offensive was Eric Metaxas - the author who wrote the pastor's biography to shed light on his personality and actions. 

Metaxas' work, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, was published in April 2010. Sharing Carlson's clip containing the Bonhoeffer comment, Metaxas called his statements "WRONG" in the caption. 

Carlson's actions have been igniting a backlash quite often lately, with his Nick Fuentes interview standing as another example of it. 

In wake of the interview, Ben Shapiro criticized the journalist on his podcast earlier this week (on Monday, November 10), calling him "the most virulent super-spreader of vile ideas in America".

Shapiro went on to say:

"The issue here isn’t that Tucker Carlson had Nick Fuentes on his show last week...The issue here is that Tucker Carlson decided to normalize and fluff Nick Fuentes and that the Heritage Foundation then decided to robustly defend that performance."

Shapiro also criticised the Heritage Foundation's defense of Tucker's Fuentes interview, saying:

"It is not cancellation to draw moral lines between viewpoints. n fact, we used to call that one of the key aspects of conservatism."

Whether it was Shapiro's comments or the general backlash aimed at the foundation, it resulted in the resignation of Ryan Neuhaus - the chief of staff of its president, Kevin Roberts, on Monday.