We all make mistakes. My most recent one was agreeing to go on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show on July 12 to discuss—I thought—President Trump and U.S. policy toward Russia. Instead, I got the equivalent of a barrel of raw sewage dumped on my head.

Carlson was still smarting from a confrontation he had had the night before with Ralph Peters, a retired army officer who had accused him of sounding like “Charles Lindbergh in 1938” for his advocacy of an alliance with Russia. Because I had retweeted Peters’ comment, Carlson appeared determined to take out his fury on me. His very first question was: “To dismiss anyone who doesn’t share your view as a Nazi sympathizer seems cheap and a short-cut and not really befitting a self-described genius like yourself. Why would you say something like that?”

“Well, rest assured, Tucker, I’m not actually saying that you are a Nazi sympathizer,” I replied, while wondering when had I described myself as a genius? I went on to state my view that Russia is a major threat to the U.S., not a potential ally. I was “very disturbed,” I added, to hear Carlson “yukking it up” at the top of his show with guest Mark Steyn about Donald Trump Jr.’s eagerness to accept Russian help in the 2016 election.