Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon Lead MAGA Resistance to Iran War

 

Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon Lead MAGA Resistance to Iran War

 

Published Jun 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM EDT

By Sonam Sheth

Evening Politics Editor

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https://www.newsweek.com/tucker-carlson-steve-bannon-maga-trump-iran-israel-war-2086346

 

As President Donald Trump is caught in a tug-of-war over the U.S. potentially wading into the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon have taken center stage as the face of MAGA's resistance to U.S. involvement in the conflict.

 

Carlson on Monday continued his tirade against some foreign policy hawks in President Donald Trump's orbit, accusing them of pushing for the United States to get involved in Israel's military campaign against Iran. Bannon, meanwhile, said "we have to stop" the U.S. from playing any role in the conflict.

 

Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment via email on Monday.

 

The Context

Carlson and Bannon have long advocated against U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, particularly in the Middle East. Their views have put them at odds with people like Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, who took a victory lap after Israel launched a number of strikes against Iran last week, igniting the most serious escalation to date in their long-running conflict.

 

Both countries have lobbed missiles at one another since Israel first attacked Iran early Friday, local time, with Iran bearing the brunt of the cost in the days since.

 

Israeli airstrikes have decapitated Iran's military and intelligence leadership and targeted critical nuclear sites and scientists, killing more than 224 people since Friday. Israeli officials have said that 24 people in Israel have been killed and at least 500 were injured as a result of Iran's retaliatory strikes.

 

Both Carlson and Bannon have warned against the U.S. getting involved in the Iran conflict, with Bannon saying last week that Israel wants the U.S. to "go on offense" against Tehran and Carlson calling Levin and Hannity "warmongers."

 

Carlson doubled down on Monday, telling Bannon: "The point is, if you think that saying, 'Hey, let's focus on my country, where I was born, where my family's been for hundreds of years, that was the promise of the last election, please do it,' if you think that's hate, you know, you've really lost perspective, I guess, is what I would say."

 

The former Fox News host went on to point out a number of domestic policy issues in the U.S. that he would prefer the Trump administration focus on, including immigration and the fentanyl crisis.

 

"It's like, all of that is now ignored because a leader of a country who does not have majority support in that country ... wants a course of action that includes the United States and I just disagree," Carlson said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "Anyway, I think it's going to happen. Who cares what I think."

 

"You think we're going to join in the offensive combat [operation]?" Bannon asked.

 

"Yes, I do," Carlson said. "I do."

 

"Well, we have to—we can't—we have to stop that," Bannon said.

 

Monday's interview comes as Trump is in Canada for the Group of Seven summit. While there, he sidestepped a question from a reporter who asked what it would take for the U.S. to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.

 

"I don't want to talk about that," Trump said while standing next to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. His comments came one day after he told ABC News that "it's possible" the U.S. could get involved: "We're not involved in it. It's possible we could get involved. But we are not, at this moment, involved."

 

Carlson, meanwhile, went after Levin directly on Monday, saying that when "Mark Levin gets on TV, it's like listening to your ex-wife scream about alimony payments. It's like, not appealing. So they wouldn't put him on TV. And then Sean [Hannity] pushed and they gave him some kind of weekend show that nobody watched."

 

Hannity and Levin have become prime targets for Carlson in recent days, particularly after the two men celebrated Israel's strikes last week on Hannity's show.

 

Carlson also excoriated Levin in the days leading up to the strike, after the Mark Levin Show host called Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, a "fifth column isolationist" and mocked Witkoff efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran.

 

Carlson Describes Fox News as 'Propaganda' Network

Carlson on Monday accused his former employer, Fox News, of "turning up the propaganda hose" to feed its viewers a particular narrative.

 

"What they're doing is what they always do, which is just turning up the propaganda hose to full blast and just trying to, you know, knock elderly Fox viewers off their feet and make them submit to where you want them to," the former prime-time Fox host told Bannon.

 

Monday's interview came after both men drew a clear line in the sand over the U.S. getting pulled into Israel's war with Iran.

 

"If you're going to go alone, you can take care of your deal or not. You don't need us. Decide to go alone. Decide to reject it—'No, we don't need you. We're going to go it alone,'" Bannon said on his podcast last week, referring to Israel. "And their go it alone lasts about six hours. Not only do they want defense, they want us to go on offense."

 

"If you're going to do it, do it. Go for it," he repeated. "You make your own decision. You decided: 'We got to do it. We've got to do it now. [Iran's] got 15 nuclear weapons.' Then go for it."

 

"But then why do we have to come and air defense?" Bannon added. "And please don't use, 'Oh, because we have things in Tel Aviv.' Then get them the hell out of Tel Aviv. And if you're an American citizen over there, give them a shot. Get out or stick. If you stick, that's fine. This is how we get sucked in."

 

Carlson also railed against suggestions that the U.S. step into the conflict, writing on X, formerly Twitter, last week: "The real divide isn't between people who support Israel and people who support Iran or the Palestinians. The real divide is between those who casually encourage violence, and those who seek to prevent it — between warmongers and peacemakers."

 

He added: "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."

 

Bannon referenced Carlson's social media post while arguing against U.S. involvement in the Iran conflict, saying on his podcast last week: "Tucker Carlson's got a tweet up. I will not repeat the names on this show at this time. I have not verified that."

 

On Monday, Carlson told Bannon he believes the Iran-Israel conflict will turn into a "full-scale war" that will draw in many other countries, adding that it's "too easy" for the U.S. to get pulled in.

 

"We have too many assets in that region, we're too dependent on the energy from that region ... there are so many things that could go wrong," he said.