{"id":48540,"date":"2026-03-15T01:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T21:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/?p=48540"},"modified":"2026-03-19T20:27:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:27:06","slug":"tucker-carlson-defends-trump-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/tucker-carlson-defends-trump-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Tucker Carlson Defends Trump Amidst Scathing Criticism Over Iran War"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background: #f7fafc; padding: 15px;\">\n<p><strong>Quick Read<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tucker Carlson publicly reaffirmed his affection for Donald Trump after the president sharply criticized him over his stance on the Iran war.<\/li>\n<li>Trump accused Carlson of being &#8220;not MAGA&#8221; and not smart enough to understand the conflict, while Carlson called the U.S. military action in Iran &#8220;disgusting and evil.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The public dispute highlights a rift within the Republican party, with Carlson&#8217;s anti-war views contrasting with strong GOP support for the operation and Trump&#8217;s presidency.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON (Azat TV) \u2013<\/strong> Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has publicly reaffirmed his support for President Donald Trump, stating he will \u201calways love him no matter what he says,\u201d following a scathing personal attack from Trump himself. The public exchange escalates a growing rift between the two prominent figures, largely centered on their differing views regarding the recent U.S. military operation in Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n<h2>Trump&#8217;s Criticism of Carlson<\/h2>\n<p>The friction became public on Thursday, March 5, when ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl reported that Trump had declared, \u201cTucker has lost his way,\u201d in a phone interview. Trump further criticized Carlson&#8217;s stance on the Middle East conflict, stating, \u201cHe\u2019s not MAGA.\u201d He elaborated that \u201cMAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things.\u201d The president also questioned Carlson\u2019s intellect, telling Karl, \u201cTucker is really not smart enough to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Carlson&#8217;s Response and Stance on Iran War<\/h2>\n<p>Carlson, who was dismissed from Fox News, responded to Trump\u2019s remarks within an hour, in a statement shared by former CNN journalist Oliver Darcy. \u201cThere are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll always love him no matter what he says about me.\u201d Earlier in the week, on Monday, March 2, Carlson had strongly condemned the U.S. military action against Iran on his show, calling it \u201cabsolutely disgusting and evil.\u201d He asserted that the conflict was \u201cIsrael\u2019s war. This is not the United States\u2019 war,\u201d and that it was not being waged for American national security or prosperity but \u201cpurely because Israel wanted it to be waged.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Broader Political Divide<\/h2>\n<p>Carlson\u2019s anti-war stance on Iran has placed him at odds with a significant portion of the Republican base. Polls indicate that approximately 85% of Republicans support the military operations, with even fewer expressing doubts among the MAGA movement. This widespread support aligns with President Trump\u2019s continued high approval ratings within the party. Meanwhile, figures like conservative commentator Ben Shapiro have sharply criticized Carlson, not only for his views on the Iran conflict but also for his past interviews and platforming of controversial figures, arguing that Carlson is no longer a traditional conservative but a \u201cconspiratorial near-anarchist.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Context of Operation Epic Fury<\/h2>\n<p>Operation Epic Fury, launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28, resulted in the death of Iran&#8217;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and six U.S. soldiers. President Trump had previously expressed pride in the operation, calling Iranian leadership \u201cderanged scumbags\u201d and stating it was an \u201chonor\u201d to be killing them. The U.S. military engagement has been characterized by Trump as a decisive victory, with the Iranian military being \u201cdecimated.\u201d Other MAGA-aligned figures, such as Megyn Kelly, have also expressed reservations about the war, echoing Carlson&#8217;s sentiments that the U.S. service members may have died for Israel&#8217;s interests rather than America&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<h2>Carlson&#8217;s Political Ambitions<\/h2>\n<p>Amidst this public spat and his critical commentary on foreign policy, Carlson has also alluded to potential political aspirations. A recent message indicated that he \u201calmost wants to run for president\u201d with the stated goal of debating Senator Ted Cruz. This suggests that despite his public disagreements and the political fallout, Carlson remains a significant voice within conservative circles, engaging in high-profile debates on both foreign policy and the direction of the Republican party.<\/p>\n<p><em>The public clash between Carlson and Trump highlights a significant fault line within the Republican party regarding foreign policy and loyalty, particularly as the 2026 election cycle approaches. Carlson&#8217;s attempts to distance himself from Trump&#8217;s foreign policy while simultaneously expressing continued personal affection underscore a complex strategy to maintain influence within the MAGA movement while carving out an independent ideological space.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tucker Carlson declared his enduring affection for Donald Trump following the president&#8217;s sharp criticism, as the two figures clash over the U.S. military engagement in Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow5Nm1DA:productID":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[854,1096,50322,8891,4607,15022],"class_list":["post-48540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-donald-trump","tag-foreign-policy","tag-iran-war","tag-maga","tag-republican-party","tag-tucker-carlson"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/carlson-and-trump.jpg","_embedded":{"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":-1,"source_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/carlson-and-trump.jpg","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}