Short-seller Nate Anderson, whose research sent Nikola CEO Trevor Milton to prison, hit back against a Tucker Carlson show portraying the executive as a deep-state victim.
Milton was convicted in 2022 of defrauding investors, including filming a Nikola truck gliding downhill as proof that the vehicles worked, and was pardoned by Trump after donating more than $1.8 million to the president’s 2024 campaign.
On Carlson’s podcast, Milton accused Anderson, who closed his firm, Hindenburg Research, in January, of shopping his Nikola report to the Justice Department. He also questioned the integrity of the government’s primary witness and blamed his conviction on “class warfare against wealthy white people … it goes so deep, dude.” Anderson punched back in a long X post: “Milton in this interview seems to just fabricate key events and information out of thin air — unfortunately with zero critical questioning or pushback from Tucker.” The interview also provided new fuel for Carlson’s escalating fight with Bill Ackman.