Journalist Tucker Carlson traveled to Washington, DC on Monday, publicly urging the president away from an escalating war in the Middle East and warning him it could lead to the ‘end’ of his presidency.
Carlson said he was in town for a series of interviews and appeared on the War Room with Steve Bannon show to discuss the ongoing debate about the war in Iran and the role that the United States should play in the conflict.
He revealed that he ‘loved’ President Trump and wanted him to be successful, but warned that the Israeli military operations against Iran threatened to get the United States further mired into the conflict.
‘A full-scale war with Iran,’ he argued, ‘would end, I believe, Trump’s presidency, effectively end it, so that’s why I’m saying this.’
Carlson said if he could speak to Trump about the conflict, he would urge him to act in America’s interests and bring peace to the region.
‘I would say to him, you’re the only person who can bring peace. You should continue to try and do that, it’s difficult, it takes a long time but your timetable is the only timetable that matters, don’t get bum rushed,’ he said.
Carlson said he was hopeful that the president would move to deescalate the conflict.
‘We’re in the final stages of being able to pull back and pretty soon there’s no pulling back,’ he said, calling for ‘active steps to prevent the inevitable’ war in the Middle East that could escalate into ‘world war.’
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump sits down for a conversation with Tucker Carlson
Journalist Tucker Carlson details his views on Israel and Iran with War Room host Steve Bannon
Carlson was angry at what he described were ‘lies’ about Trump’s commitment to peace in Iran, criticizing reports suggesting the president only used the peace process to lure Iran into complacency while Israel planned their attacks.
‘They’re lying about him. He sincerely believes now that this could be a predicate to a peace deal, he really thinks that and wants that,’ he said.
Carlson spoke as the president was in Canada for the G7 summit talks on Monday.
‘I wish the president was not in Canada. I don’t wish a trip to Canada on anyone … I hope he gets home soon because you don’t want any of that Canadian to rub off on you while you’re there,’ he said.
He warned that Israeli president Bibi Netanyahu would continue to try to get the United States further involved in their war, but urged him to deliver a tough message to Israel.
Tucker Carlson speaks on stage on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention
Tucker Carlson speaks during a rally for Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden
‘I think this can be stopped but it’s going to require a really tough step which is to say to our client state which is to say, ‘We love you, we want to help you, we don’t think you’re acting in your own interest … what we’re not going to do is imperil American national security, the American economy, or America itself on your behalf,’ he said.
Carlson addressed attacks from Fox News host and radio legend Mark Levin and other pro-Israel figures in the United States who have escalated attacks against him for criticizing Israel’s military strikes on Iran.
‘My interest is really simple, I don’t want the United States be meshed into another Middle Eastern war that doesn’t serve our interests,’ he said.
Carlson revealed he supported Israel, but believed the recent conflict with Iran was not in their national interests.
‘If you think I’m anti-Israel, then you’ve lost the plot son,’ he said, recalling a conversation he had with an Israeli official.
He said his positions was a ‘disaster for me personally’ and that many of his previous colleagues and friends from Fox News continued to attack him for his views.
‘It’s crazy how people that are against killing are the criminals all of a sudden,’ he said.
Levin has escalated his attacks against Carlson in recent weeks, giving him the nickname ‘Chatsworth Qatar-lson’ and accusing him of getting funded by Qatar to share his views.
‘I always liked Mark Levin, I got along with him, he’s a blowhard, sad personal life, and all that but I was never mad at Mark Levin,’ he said.
Carlson defied the idea that he was working for the Qatari government.
‘I’ve never taken a dime from any foreign country or anybody actually,’ he said.
He questioned the motives of his critics, accusing them of ‘projecting’ their own weaknesses on him.
Mark Levin on the set of his Fox News show
Mark Levin meets with President Donald Trump
‘They’re the ones that have these weird complex motives,’ he said, declaring that his critics had ’empty, tormented personal lives.’
Carlson also addressed the Fox News platform, challenging they were committed to the vision of escalating military interventionism in the Middle East.
‘Anyone who stands in their way will be destroyed,’ he said.
Carlson said that Mark Levin was ‘terrible on TV’ but questioned why the veteran radio host was ‘all over primetime’ championing America’s commitment to Israel’s fight.
He tried to soften his criticism of Fox News, saying he personally liked Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan and the people who worked there.
‘What they are doing is what they always do, which is just turning up the propaganda hose to full blast and just trying to knock elderly Fox viewers off their feet and make them to subject to more wars, he said, adding that he ‘respected their sincerity,’ but ‘fundamentally disagreed’ with their views.
Trump responded to Carlson and others who warned that supporting Israel’s war in Iran was against his campaign promise act on an ‘American First’ 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,’ he said in an interview with The Atlantic.
Trump argued that military action to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program was essential to peace.
‘For those people who say they want peace – you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon – that’s not peace.’
