Dovish Trump Advisers Despaired That Tucker Carlson Wasn’t on Fox News to Lobby Trump Against Iran Strikes

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Dovish advisers to President Donald Trump reportedly despaired that Tucker Carlson was no longer on Fox News as the commander-in-chief weighed whether to greenlight a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities this month.

According to The New York Times, Trump started to contemplate such an operation on June 13, after Israel had begun strikes on Iranian military targets.

“At the same time, the president’s team was closely monitoring how their most prominent supporters were reacting on social media and on television to the prospect of the United States joining the war in a more visible way. They paid close attention to the statements of Tucker Carlson, the influential podcaster and former Fox News host, who was vehemently opposed to the United States joining Israel in taking on Iran. Mr. Trump became infuriated by some of Mr. Carlson’s commentary and started complaining about him publicly and privately,” reported the Times. “The president was closely monitoring Fox News, which was airing wall-to-wall praise of Israel’s military operation and featuring guests urging Mr. Trump to get more involved.”

“Several Trump advisers,” per the Gray Lady, “lamented the fact that Mr. Carlson was no longer on Fox, which meant that Mr. Trump was not hearing much of the other side of the debate.”

Carlson was one of the loudest voices advocating against a strike in the lead-up to this weekend, when American bombers hit three Iranian nuclear sites on Trump’s orders. He has, however, gone radio silent in the roughly 36 hours since Trump announced the completion of the American operation in Iran.

In the meantime, Trump has celebrated it as a “spectacular” success, while even musing that the Iranian people ought to overthrow the theocratic regime that rules them in a Sunday afternoon post on Truth Social.

“It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,” mused Trump, “but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”