Tucker Carlson's Anti-Israel Turn: From Fox News to Fringe Views

Tucker Carlson, once a sharp-elbowed staple of Fox News conservatism, known for his populist rants against "elites," immigration, and endless wars, has undergone a stark transformation since his 2023 ouster from the network. By September 2025, he's morphed into a figurehead for the far-right's isolationist, anti-interventionist wing, but at a cost: his rhetoric has veered into overt antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and alliances with fringe voices that echo historical blood libels.

The Israel Hatred: A "Woke Right" Obsession Takes Hold

Carlson's pivot against Israel intensified post-October 7, 2023, aligning with his "America First" isolationism. He frames U.S. support for Israel as a humiliating drain on American resources, accusing the country of "controlling" U.S. policy and dragging America into endless Middle East conflicts. In a June 2025 interview with Ted Cruz, he grilled the senator on U.S. aid to Israel, calling it a betrayal of domestic priorities like border security, echoing left-wing critiques but laced with "woke right" populism that resents perceived foreign lobbies. By July, he escalated, calling for revoking U.S. citizenship from Americans who've served in the IDF over "dual loyalty" concerns, while slamming the Trump administration's deportations of pro-Palestinian students as hypocritical.

On X, Carlson's posts amplify this:

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In June 2025, he blasted "warmongers" like Sean Hannity and Mark Levin for pushing Trump toward direct U.S. strikes on Iran, naming pro-Israel donors like Miriam Adelson as culprits.
In February, he interviewed Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who praised X's dominance while Carlson nodded along to critiques of U.S. "imperialism" in the region. Critics, including Haaretz and Ynet, call it "country club antisemitism," polished disdain for Jewish sovereignty, masked as anti-war patriotism.
Trump himself swiped back in June, dismissing Carlson's Iran warnings as irrelevant blather from a has-been.
By September, Carlson's rants had alienated even MAGA stalwarts, with outlets like Mediaite labeling them "humiliating" attacks on Trump and Netanyahu.

This isn't subtle critique; it's an obsession.

Cozying Up to Nuns: Platforming Anti-Israel Propaganda

On August 11, he interviewed Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a U.S.-born Russian Orthodox nun who's lived in the Holy Land. Titled "Here’s What It’s Really Like to Live as a Christian in the Holy Land," the 90-minute episode was a one-sided takedown of Israel, with Carlson nodding along as Stephanopoulos claimed Israeli "apartheid" persecutes Christians, steals land, and bombs churches "on purpose."

She alleged Israel plans to "blow up" Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount to rebuild a Jewish temple, and defended Hamas as desperate resisters in an "open-air prison." Carlson promoted it heavily on X, urging "evangelicals" like Ted Cruz to listen, framing it as exposing Christian suffering ignored by pro-Israel conservatives.

The backlash was swift: CAMERA and Aish accused Carlson of letting her "bear false witness," omitting context like Hamas terrorists holding 40 clergy hostage in the Church of the Nativity during the 2002 siege she referenced. For Carlson, it was red meat for his audience, cozying up to a nun lent "moral" cover to his Israel-bashing and ignored data showing Israel's Christian population stable or growing under its governance.

Hinting Israel Killed Charlie Kirk: The Funeral Blood Libel

And just as we thought Tucker was as deep down the rabbit hold as he could go, at Charlie Kirk's memorial in Arizona's State Farm, Carlson likened Kirk to Jesus: an "evangelist" murdered by powerful forces in a "lamp-lit room with men eating hummus" in Jerusalem, plotting to silence him for "telling the truth." He added Kirk "did not like Bibi Netanyahu" and was "appalled" by Gaza, implying his death silenced a growing critic. No explicit accusation, but the dogwhistle was deafening: Pharisees plotting Jesus's death (a medieval "deicide" libel blaming Jews), plus "hummus" as a modern Israeli nod.

The fallout was explosive. The ADL called it a "blood libel"; pro-Israel voices like Mark Dubowitz and Eylon Levy decried Carlson desecrating Kirk's memory, a "passionate friend of Israel." Arizona rabbis and Jewish groups condemned it as reinforcing myths that "Jews killed Jesus," linking to centuries of expulsions and murders. Netanyahu denied involvement twice—once on NewsMax, once in a video, calling it "absurd." X lit up with clips, from Quds News Network amplifying it as "Israeli involvement" to far-right users like Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes cheering. MSNBC and The Times of Israel saw it as exposing MAGA's Israel rift: pro-Israel hawks vs. antisemitic isolationists. Even Antonio Brown piled on, tying it to Carlson's 9/11 docuseries as "next ****** level."

What Happened to Him? A Perfect Storm of Grift, Grievance, and the Far-Right Gutter

Carlson's arc isn't mysterious, it's predictable for a media survivor chasing relevance post-Fox. Fired amid a Dominion lawsuit exposing his private texts mocking MAGA (e.g., calling Jan. 6 a "badly organized" riot), he launched Tucker Carlson Network, thriving on X and podcasts with 10M+ views per episode.

Unshackled, his "bowtie conservative" facade cracked: He dined with Putin in 2024, hosted Holocaust deniers, and amplified white nationalist tropes. The Israel turn? Post-Trump's 2025 reelection, as U.S. aid flowed unabated, Carlson tapped paleoconservative veins (Pat Buchanan-style) to court the "groyper" crowd, young, online radicals like Fuentes who blend isolationism with Jew-baiting.

Psychologically, it's grievance: Carlson resents "neocons" (many Jewish) for past snubs and sees Israel as a symbol of elite overreach. Financially, it's gold, his nun interview racked up millions of views, blending piety with propaganda. Politically, it's fracturing MAGA: Kirk's death exposed the divide, with Carlson siding against pro-Israel donors like Bill Ackman, who allegedly pressured TPUSA over hosting him. As MSNBC's Emily Tamkin put it, once you flirt with antisemitism, "you do not get to decide how much prejudice is acceptable."

Once a voice against coastal snobs, Carlson's now a vector for the worst tropes, deicide myths, Mossad whispers (he tied Epstein to Israeli intel in July). It's not intelligence; it's idiocy wrapped in contrarianism. If he was ever the "smart conservative," that ship's sailed, replaced by a man chasing shadows in a hummus-scented room.