Tucker Carlson says he was joking when he praised Trump for staring at the eclipse without glasses

Fox News host Tucker Carlson said he was obviously joking when he praised President Donald Trump for looking at Monday's solar eclipse without protective eyewear.

"Even the president saw it, but in a move that wasn't a complete surprise, he looked directly at the sun without any glasses, perhaps the most impressive thing any president has ever done," Carlson said during Monday's broadcast.

The comments went viral as many Twitter users mocked Carlson's seemingly unwavering support for the president. 

But in a statement to Business Insider provided by a spokesperson, the Fox News host said the comments were obviously a joke. 

"It was a test to see if liberals are really as slow and humorless as people claim," Carlson said. "Turns out they are."

Carlson often laces interviews and segments with sarcasm aimed at exposing what he views as liberal hypocrisy, or simply to provoke Democrats, leftists, and members of the media.  

And though Carlson has been one of the president's fiercest defenders on Fox News - he caught flak for defending Trump's praise of some "very fine people" who attended a white-nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this month - he has occasionally broken with Trump.

In a July broadcast, the Fox host notably denounced the president's criticism of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Watch the clip, via Fox News: