How Many Children Does Tucker Carlson Have? Meet The Kids Who Fueled His Controversial Career

Tucker Carlson has had quite the run. He's been lambasted all over the press for various scandalous remarks, but he also did a (albeit disastrous) stint on "Dancing With the Stars." He's made disparaging remarks about women, yet he's devoted to his wife of decades. He's talked about daughters in a way that's made more than a handful of people cringe, even though he has kids — including daughters of his own. 

Carlson met his wife Susan Andrews when they were teenagers attending the same private educational institute, St. George's School in Rhode Island. "She was the cutest 10th grader in America," he shared with People. The two were engaged before Carlson even graduated from college, and over the course of their relationship, they welcomed four children into their lives. Lillie, Buckley, Hopie, and Dorothy all grew up together with their parents.

"The point of life is to have children, and to watch them have grandchildren," Carlson said in a speech he gave in 2023 at the Center for Christian Virtue's Cleveland Celebration Gala. "Nothing will bring you joy like that will." In fact, in a 2017 interview with GQ, he revealed that his kids were the motivation behind some of his varied career choices, noting, "When you have four kids in private schools, you don't get to be choosy." 

In 2019, Tucker Carlson was on Fox News and invited his wife Susan Carlson on the show in honor of Mother's Day. In a rare moment of sharing the family's private life, the couple showed a throwback photo of the family all together. While he's kept his children's lives fairly confidential, he hasn't been shy when discussing fatherhood.

Carlson had a drinking problem when the kids were young — he quit before his fourth child was born — and credits his wife with raising their kids to be "trustworthy, loyal, smart, loving" people, he told Moms for America. As his children have grown up, Carlson confessed he was worried about having an empty nest. "I remember thinking, 'Oh man I'm going to be upset when they all leave,'" he shared. "But it's not like you lose touch with them — I mean I talk to them every day."

The outspoken commentator has also advocated for having children as early as possible and has noted that his grandmother gave birth to his father when she was just 15. "Having kids is the greatest thing," he declared on an episode of the Tucker Carlson Network.

Lillie Carlson, the first child of Tucker Carlson and his wife Susan Carlson, was born when Carlson was 25 years old. He was working at a magazine at the time and recalled in an interview that his editor at the time informed him his life would never be the same. "He said, 'When you have a kid, you realize you will do whatever it takes,'" he told Moms for America. "You may be the most moral man in the world. If you have to rob a liquor store to feed that kid, or whatever it takes, you will do it because that is your responsibility. It's the most important thing in your life."

Following in her parents' footsteps, Lillie went to St. George's School, the same place Carlson and Susan met. She then attended the University of Virginia, where she was a student in 2014. While there, she was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. 

It is thought Carlson's eldest child studied marketing and communications while in college and went on to work at Cheddar, a news outlet, where she worked on breaking news stories. Lillie tends to keep to herself, but her dad once revealed a bit about her personality. While the family was vacationing, a guide pointed out two rather large alligators who had eaten all the fish in the pond. Without fear, Lillie, around 11 years old, boldly began walking toward one for a closer look, until she was warned away. She opted instead to pet minnows, rescuing them from being dad's bait.

The most publicly visible of all of the Carlson kids, Buckley Carlson is the only son of Tucker Carlson and Susan Carlson, and the second oldest child in the family line-up. If the name "Buckley Carlson" rings a much older bell, it's because Tucker's brother is also named Buckley.

While attending St. George's School like his parents and older sister, Buckley embarked on the first leg of his political career, as a communications intern in Donald Trump's White House. After graduating in 2015, Buckley went on to attend the University of Virginia. He then spent multiple years working in the office of Indiana Republican Representative Jim Banks (Buckley is pictured above, left, with a visitor to his boss's office), advancing from an assistant to communications director, then deputy chief of staff. When Trump took office as president of the United States for his second term, Buckley got a new job. In January 2025, Vice President JD Vance hired Buckley to be his deputy press secretary.

In his personal life, Buckley married long-time girlfriend Kelsey Kilgore in May 2023. The two met in college, and Buckley once wrote an article about his girlfriend and her college political ambitions for "The College Fix." On his X, formerly known as Twitter, bio, he lists himself as "My dad's favorite."

Hopie Carlson is the third child of Tucker Carlson and his wife Susan, and the second oldest daughter. While she's had some presence on social media, she has kept her private life mostly private.

The same as the Carlson kids before her, she also attended St. George's School, and was appointed a prefect for her senior year, a leadership role amongst the students, and was a member of the swim team. Hopie also helped establish the Interfaith Chapel Service, and she and a fellow student both obtained certification from the dioceses so they could lead the worship group. She graduated from the school in 2018. Also claiming the same collegiate alma mater as her brother and sister, Hopie also attended the University of Virginia.

In his speech with the Center for Christian Virtue, Carlson revealed that politics wasn't a regular family discussion. "My wife ... she's not political," he shared. "I wasn't interested in talking about politics with my kids at dinner, because we live in a political city. I just had enough of it." He also said he wouldn't tell them for whom to vote. And he apparently kept his word. It's been reported that Hopie registered as a Democrat in the state of Florida before the 2020 election.

The youngest child of Tucker Carlson and his wife Susan Carlson is Dorothy Carlson. Born in the early 2000s, she's still establishing her life and career, and, like her sisters before her, has led a somewhat quiet life away from the news and social media.

We do know that Dorothy also attended St. George's School, where she gave one of the regularly scheduled speeches, noted as a "senior chapel talk" to her fellow classmates. It also appears she was a member of the Snapdragons, a female a capella group who focused on pop songs. 

While she shared some of the same teachers and classes as her siblings, Dorothy's St. George's experience was a little different, as she attended during the heart of the pandemic. When she gave her chapel talk, it was behind a plastic guard, and at least one of her singing performances was done remotely, with members signing on and singing together via video. She graduated from the school in 2021.