Tucker Carlson at center of raging battle for MAGA’s future
Tucker Carlson had some concerns. So he called President Donald Trump.
The right-wing podcaster and provocateur wanted to understand why the U.S. was attacking alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela, and he warned against pursuing regime change there — a prospect that has alarmed the more isolationist “America First” Republicans in Trump’s movement.
The conversations last weekend, which Carlson recalled in an interview, show how the Fox News castoff is at the center of some of the most heated disputes in MAGA — over foreign policy, antisemitism and conspiracy theories, among other topics heightening tensions in the movement. As the right wrestles with what it should stand for and against in the coming years, Carlson is a divisive and influential figure with an audience — on social media, among MAGA commentators and inside the White House.
Trump doesn’t always heed Carlson’s opinions. The administration ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela in recent days, even as Carlson urged against it. But as a growing number of MAGA activists clash with Trump and each other, clouding the future of the movement, Carlson has become a more central figure this year, viewed as consequential by detractors and supporters alike.
“I’ve never talked to him more,” Carlson said of his relationship with Trump.
Carlson is trying to push the party away from foreign intervention and divorce it from Israel, which he argues exerts burdensome pressure on U.S. foreign policy, drawing accusations that he is repeating antisemitic tropes. He has entertained conspiracy theories about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that have angered many MAGA influencers, including Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. And this fall, he interviewed white-supremacist commentator Nick Fuentes, who has espoused antisemitic conspiracy theories — fueling concerns that he and his allies are promoting bigotry while setting off a debate over where the MAGA movement stands on rejecting hate speech. [Continue reading…]