‘More drama’: MAGA civil war erupts over Trump-Tucker Carlson summit

President Donald Trump is struggling to contain a civil war within his MAGA movement over the role of far right commentator Tucker Carlson — particularly when it comes to the issue of US support for Israel.“Ultimately, Carlson’s perseverance in Trump’s orbit is a remarkable testament to his staying power,” wrote Will Sommer of the conservative publication The Bulwark. “Lesser media luminaries would have been pushed to the outskirts of punditry. The question now is how long the alliance between the administration and Carlson can hold.”With Carlson and other alt-right leaders like commentator Nick Fuentes clashing with pro-Israel Trump supporters like influencer Laura Loomer and The Daily Wire head Ben Shapiro, The Bulwark observed that the MAGA coalition is straining because of its internal tensions.“With the United States possibly on the verge of war with Iran, Israel’s greatest enemy, you’d think Carlson—a staunch critic of American support for Israel—would be on the outs with the administration,” Sommer wrote. “Instead, on Monday, he was reportedly back in the White House, a month after he visited to have lunch with Trump and attended a meeting with oil company CEOs.”Carlson has a long history of parting ways with Trump on important issues. In December, Carlson told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that Trump is wrong to ignore the ongoing issues in the American economy.“The one thing that doesn’t lie is the economy,” Carlson said. “I mean, it’s one of these things that Trump just can’t lie his way out of or talk his way out of. And that is extremely problematic because when people go to the polls for the midterm elections, which are going to be here before we know it, they’re going to be voting on how they feel on that particular day. And the economy is an incredibly emotional feeling.”Speaking with this author for Salon as far back as 2019, Carlson criticized Trump’s handling of the economy.“I don’t think the obvious lesson of the 2016 election was you hire Steve Mnuchin as Treasury Secretary, you know,” Carlson said. “I can’t just put it into one sentence. As I sort of read through the exit polling in November of 2016, my first thought wasn’t, ‘You know, they really should hire some more Goldman Sachs people to oversee our economy.’ That didn’t flow naturally from the trends I was watching.”Loomer, a right-wing activist and passionate Trump supporter, recently attacked Carlson’s influence within Trump’s orbit.“I’m sick of Tucker attacking Trump and then running to the White House to pretend he hasn’t been bashing Trump for years!” Loomer declared on Monday. “I’m so fucking over it!”She added, “He called the President yesterday and begged him to be put on his schedule.He was manic on the phone, I’m told, completely belligerent begging to come to the White House today.” Loomer went on to call him “Tucker Qatarlson” and a “neo Nazi Islamic agent.”Also on Monday, Loomer urged on social media for Trump to “condemn” Carlson.”Everybody needs to be pressuring the White House to issue a statement condemning Tucker Carlson this week,” Loomer said. “His efforts to derail the GOP and his nonstop sabotage of President Trump must end.”Another pro-Trump and pro-Israel commentator, Dave Rubin, claimed that Carlson’s presence in the White House shows Trump sees “that Tucker is obviously trying to destroy MAGA and it appears he’s finally had enough . . .”In a November article published by the Washington Post, journalist/author Jamie Kirchick unpacked Carlson’s friendly relationship with Fuentes, noting that it could create an awkward predicament for Trump’s logical successor for president in 2028, Vice President JD Vance.”Ironically, the politician Carlson is harming most with his antics is the person he wants to succeed Trump: Vice President JD Vance,” Kirchick wrote. “Carlson, who praised Vance in his discussion with Fuentes as one of the very few people on the right who shares his foreign policy views, reportedly played a decisive role in convincing Trump to name Vance as his running mate. Vance, who has since employed Carlson’s son as his deputy press secretary, invited Carlson to the White House when he guest-hosted the ‘Charlie Kirk Show’ following the assassination of its eponymous host. Having benefited from Carlson’s scorched-earth campaign against ‘the neoconservatives,’ Vance now appears stuck with Carlson’s antisemitic, conspiratorial, anti-American baggage whether he likes it or not.”Kirchick concluded, “Thus far, Vance has done nothing to distance himself from this kind of politics. When Politico exposed racist and antisemitic text messages sent by members of Young Republican clubs last month, the vice president forgivingly characterized the appalling behavior of these 20- and 30-somethings as ‘what kids do.’”

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