Right-wing talk show host Tucker Carlson gushes over Jordan during visit to Christian holy sites

Political commentator Tucker Carlson has praised Jordan during a visit to the country, as part of the right-wing activist's outreach to the Muslim world.

Carlson, who has long been associated with the American Christian Right, has increasingly warmed to Arab states and Islam after a history of anti-Islam and immigrant comments, particularly after Israel's war on Gaza, where Palestinian Christians have been killed or forced to flee their homes.

This week, Carlson visited the Baptism Site of Jesus on the Jordan River and praised the Jordanian government's role in preserving Christian holy sites.

He also said Amman's custodianship of Christian holy sites and the allocation of land for churches sends a "very important message" amid a time of turmoil in the region.

"I am standing in front of a Christian monastery in an overwhelmingly Muslim country - this is the country of Jordan - and I am shocked above all by the beauty of it,  by the care the government has taken to restore, to preserve, to beautify this area along the Jordan River just steps away from where my saviour Jesus Christ was baptised by John 2,000 years ago and I am overwhelmed by it," he said in a video.

"I just want to say thanks again (for) the beauty too, one of the ways I personally judge if something is from God or His enemies is on the basis of beauty - God is beauty."

He added in an interview that the way Jordan treats its Christian holy sites and its Christian population with respect is important, as it contrasts with the treatment of Christians in neighbouring countries, hinting at Jordan.

"That’s significant, particularly now, because the question of how Christians are treated in the holy land is a political question, and it is because much of what happens in this region is funded by the United States, by its taxpayers, military action, but also the cultural and religious life of the region is funded to a great extent by American Christian churches," he said.

"How are Christians in the Holy Land doing? Are they thriving or are they suffering? And the truth has become pretty obvious over the past couple of years, which is, in Israel, they are not thriving. Their numbers are not growing. They are shrinking, and there’s a huge debate about why."

Carlson has been hugely critical of Israel's actions in recent years, including the bombing of churches and Christian hospitals in Gaza, where much of the Palestinian Christian population has been forced to flee amid a huge Israeli onslaught.

"But the bottom line is there are fewer Christians now, far fewer in absolute numbers and particularly as percentage of population than there were when the state was founded in 1948," Carlson said.

"And there’s a lot of evidence in the last couple of years, particularly since the Gaza War started, and the whole tone of the conversation in this area has changed quite a bit, and the rise of extremism, very noticeable, that those numbers have gotten even smaller.

"And in Jerusalem, if you follow this at all on the Internet, you see video clip after video clip of Christian clergy being spit at by religious extremists, not Muslim religious extremists, but Jewish religious extremists. And that’s something most Americans didn’t know happened, didn’t think could happen, particularly since the United States, the most important Christian country in the world, is funding this."

Carlson also visited the natural beauty spot Wadi Rum, which he described as "stunning" and reflected a divine beauty, according to Roya news.