Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson made dramatic charges against some of his former Fox News colleagues, accusing them of trying to draw President Trump into a war with Iran.
Carlson named Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, as "warmongers" in the blistering critique.
In his newsletter, Carlson also called President Trump "complicit" in Israel's strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and warned that Trump's legacy as a peacemaker is at risk.
"While the American military may not have physically perpetrated the assault, years of funding and sending weapons to Israel, which Donald Trump just bragged about on Truth Social, undeniably place the U.S. at the center of last night's events. Washington knew these attacks would happen," Carlson wrote.
Carlson's comments highlight a divide within the MAGA movement over foreign policy, with dovish populists like Carlson warning the Israel-Iran conflict could escalate disastrously while Fox News hosts such as Levin and Hannity have strongly supported Israel's move, saying it's necessary to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.
"Who are the warmongers? They would include anyone who’s calling Donald Trump today to demand air strikes and other direct US military involvement in a war with Iran," Carlson wrote on X.
“On that list: Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rupert Murdoch, Ike Perlmutter and Miriam Adelson. At some point they will all have to answer for this, but you should know their names now,” he continued.
Carlson and Levin have been in a particularly heated feud over Iran. Responding to Carlson's latest criticism of him, Levin denied pushing Trump to bomb Iran and called Carlson a "thug" and a "reckless and deceitful propagandist."
While Trump did not want Israel to attack Iran, he has since said that the U.S. now has more leverage to negotiate a nuclear deal - and Trump has invoked the threat of more strikes to force Iran to the table.
Trump's embrace of Israel's strike is what led to criticism from Carlson, who suggested Trump is abandoning his "America First" movement. In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump said that he is the one who sets the agenda.
“Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that,” Trump said.
“For those people who say they want peace—you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon,” he added.
“So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon—that’s not peace."
Trump also shared Saturday that he had a phone call with Vladimir Putin, and they both agreed the Israel-Iran conflict needs to end.
