Carlson says he’s a Christian supporter of the nation- state of Israel, but since the Jewish state faced a deadly war starting on Oct. 7, 2023, the commentator’s response has been to call for blockage of aid to Israel.


FIGHTING WORDS The MAGA divide surfaced in a tense exchange between Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Tucker Carlson, who for decades has been a strong supporter of Israel and a tough critic of Iran. Now Carlson has done an about-face, calling for a blockage of aid to Israel and describing the radical Tehran mullahs as benevolent religious clerics. Cruz said his views border on raw antisemitism.


is the business of the Iranians.” Once Trump engineered the


Iranian-Israeli ceasefire, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte strongly praised Trump’s deci- sive action. Back home, however, his


decision to bomb Iran caused some serious political fallout. A group of zealous members of Trump’s populist-conserva- tive MAGA coalition appeared ready to form a circular firing squad.


READY, FIRE, AIM Trump had long stated his de- termination to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed na- tion, yet some of MAGA’s most isolationist-oriented members clearly felt betrayed. Thus began one of the great splits in MAGA world. The interventionist versus noninterventionist divide was personified by the high-profile,


head-on collision between top talker Tucker Carlson and Sen. Ted Cruz, both of whom actively helped Trump win his second term. Carlson, who for decades


had been a supporter of Israel and a vociferous critic of Iran, has done an about-face. In the new Carlson play-


book, he admires Russia and its president Vladimir Putin, while describing the radical mullahs of Tehran as benevolent reli- gious clerics. In their June sit-down, as


Carlson tried to put Cruz on the defensive for supporting the pro-Israeli lobby, the Texas Re- publican was quick to turn the tables, noting Carlson’s com- ments bordered on raw anti- semitism. Carlson says he’s a Christian


supporter of the nation-state of Israel, but since the Jewish state faced a deadly war starting on Oct. 7, 2023, the commenta-


tor’s response has been to call for blockage of aid to Israel. The U.S., he says, simply should not be involved in foreign wars. “How many people live in


Iran, by the way?” Carlson asked the senator in an attempt to ask a “gotcha” question that seemed as irrelevant to the dis- cussion as it was. “I don’t know the popula-


tion,” replied Cruz. “I don’t sit around memoriz-


ing population tables,” Cruz re- plied. But Cruz, like Trump, has


been indefatigable in the posi- tion that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. Iran has long called America the “great Satan” and not only has talked about obliterating American cities, but also, several intel- ligence agencies say, has been actively trying to assassinate Trump. Carlson’s staunch opposi-


tion to getting the United States involved in another Middle East conflict mirrors his early advocacy of a “do nothing” ap- proach as Russia made an un- provoked attack on democratic ally Ukraine. Carlson’s arguments have


resonated with some but not all in the MAGA base. He has said Ukraine is corrupt (but never mentions Russia is far more corrupt); has argued Russia’s proximity to Ukraine gives it an absolute right to control its


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