On the December 20 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson said “I like a tiny bit of BS” from the president on the Iraq war even though “I know nobody agrees with me.” Carlson also claimed that President Bush has a “kind of Teddy Rooseveltian way” because Bush claims that he is “the guy who knows the deep truth, and the deep truth is victory” and suggests that people should not “believe what your eyes tell you.”

As Media Matters for America noted, on October 23, in discussing the Pentagon's initial cover-up of the cause of the death of former pro football player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, Carlson said that "[t]elling the truth actually is difficult. Look, let me speak on behalf of anyone who has ever told a lie. Telling the truth is really hard."

However, Carlson also expressed the opposite viewpoint about whether the president ought to tell the truth when he claimed on July 10 that “Bush's bravado is the best thing about him” because "[t]elling the truth is exactly what's needed around the world," as noted by Media Matters.

From the December 20 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:

MICHAEL CROWLEY (senior editor at The New Republic): It just makes me very uncomfortable -- can I just say one quick thing -- I don't want to be glib about such an important subject. But as far as Bush admitting we're not winning, he was starting to look like that guy -- remember Baghdad Bob, who said, you know, the sands of Iraq are soaked with the blood of Americans. You know, this was as the Marines were rolling into Baghdad. I mean, Bush was -- Bush could not maintain the state of denial anymore and fiction. I mean, I think -- it's what everyone knows, and at some point, the president has to seem like he knows what's going on.

CARLSON: Well, I don't know. I disagree. I mean, I hate the war passionately, but I like that about Bush. I like the fact that he was in this kind of Teddy Rooseveltian way. You know what I mean? Almost like you don't believe what your eyes tell you. I'm the guy who knows the deep truth, and the deep truth is victory. I mean, I think it's important -- I mean, failure is so scary.

MARK McKINNON (former media adviser to President Bush): Yeah, and it's not an option, and it just can't be. And so, he's committed to finding and securing a way forward that amends the strategy and is doing that now. But failure is not an option, as he said, and it shouldn't be. And it shouldn't be communicated that way from the president of the United States.

CARLSON: I like a tiny bit of BS. I know nobody agrees with me.