Tucker Carlson Echoes MAGA Voters ‘Upset’ With Trump: ‘I Can’t Believe He Did This To Us’
Tucker Carlson warned that President Donald Trump’s decision to launch strikes on Iran has left many of the president’s own supporters “mad” and feeling deeply betrayed as he defended his own criticism of the intervention while dismissing those attacking him.
The conservative pundit made the remarks during a wide-ranging interview on Friday’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, where he defended his criticism of the operation but also of the extent of Israel’s involvement amid mounting backlash from prominent figures on the right.
Carlson’s opposition to the strikes in recent weeks has drawn attacks from Fox News host Mark Levin, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and conservative commentator Ben Shapiro – all of whom he has feuded with for a long time. This week, however, Cruz has branded Carlson “the most dangerous demagogue” in America and implied Carlson’s commentary on Israel was antisemitic.
Speaking to host Piers Morgan, Carlson argued that enthusiasm for the strikes is largely confined to an older slice of the Republican electorate.
“The only people who support this war are those born between 1946 and 1964 who watch a lot of Fox News. That’s it,” he said.
He continued: “I’m not attacking them, by the way. They’re Americans. They’re my equals as Americans. I love a lot of them. But their perspective on the U.S. and the world is very different from everyone else’s. Very, very different. And so, they’re not the ones who got Donald Trump elected.”
Carlson, in turn, insisted the coalition that propelled Trump to the presidency in 2024 looks very different – far less supportive of another Middle East conflict and much more in line with his own skepticism.
“Actually, the people who got Donald Trump elected are the people who hadn’t voted for Republicans before or even voted at all before,” he said, describing voters including “Joe Rogan listeners,” younger voters, and non-traditional Republican constituencies.
“They’re Hispanic voters. They’re young Black men. They’re non-traditional Republican voters who voted for Trump because he promised not to keep doing the same thing,” he said, adding: “And one of the things he promised not to do again was to hand operational authority over to [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu as other presidents have. We don’t want any more of that. Why would we?”
Namedropping his critics he continued: “We’re not going to, like, make Mark Levin or Ben Shapiro who have almost no organic support in the media world, like no one really watches them, we’re not going to hand control of our foreign policy over to people like that who don’t know anything and who don’t have America’s interest at heart or even in mind.”
Carlson warned that the president’s decision risked “breaking faith” with the non-traditional MAGA voters “who actually got Trump elected and whose coalition promised a new day in American politics.”
“That’s a big deal,” he said. “It’s a betrayal on the level that I don’t think people who aren’t in those groups can understand. This is heartbreaking.”
Carlson went on to say that he’d talked to many Trump voters, even in the past day, who are “upset.” He said that frustration was not a “hate” for Israel but that in some MAGA cohorts, voters were “definitely starting to hate Israel.”
“Why wouldn’t they?” he added. “Our relationship with Israel is hurting us gravely. It’s getting Americans killed. So, they’re mad, but it’s more than mad. It’s ‘I can’t believe he did this to us’ – you know?”
“I feel just so depressed about it,” he concluded.
Watch above via YouTube.
New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!
Comments
↓ Scroll down for comments ↓