Tucker Carlson Sparks Outrage: Accuses Israel of Controlling U.S. Government | WATCH

Tucker Carlson, once one of Donald Trump's most powerful media allies, has become one of the most prominent right-wing voices challenging the president over his support for Israel, in a break that is rattling the American conservative movement.

In a series of recent interviews and podcast episodes, Carlson has described Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, or something indistinguishable from it, accused Israel of deliberately killing journalists, and asked pointed questions about whether Netanyahu is effectively directing American foreign policy.

In an interview with Israel's Channel 13 aired on May 19, Carlson was pressed on his use of the word genocide. His response was characteristically blunt. "Israel has murdered all these children, thousands of children in Gaza. But the real criminal is me because I describe that as genocide. OK, it's not genocide. It's killing innocents. It's wrong. You can call it genocide or ethnic cleansing. You can call it a crime, a sin, an atrocity. I don't really care."

He also accused Trump of ceding control of U.S. policy to Jerusalem. "On February 28, the US followed Israel into this war, and the US Secretary of State said that there was no choice and that Israel chose the timing. This is the definition of control. So my question is, why did Trump let a nation of 9 million people drag a nation of 350 million people into a war that would change its future, and that is bad for the United States?"

The White House pushed back. The interview prompted a response from the administration after Carlson asserted that Netanyahu, Israel supporters in the media, and donors pushed Trump into the war.

On the killing of journalists, Carlson has gone further than most mainstream commentators. Experts estimate that at least 221 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. Carlson has accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists to prevent coverage of what is happening inside Gaza, a claim Israel denies, saying journalists have died in active combat zones where Hamas operates (not including the journalists who moonlight for Hamas).

A U.S. pro-Israel advocacy group, StopAntisemitism, named Carlson its "Antisemite of the Year," citing his use of his podcast and media appearances to criticize the war and the political influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups in Washington. Carlson has singled out AIPAC, calling its influence "an ongoing humiliation ritual" for American lawmakers.

The American right is now mired in what observers describe as a civil war over Israel. Over the past year, a number of prominent right-wing pundits and activists have broken from Trump over his support for Israel, with the anti-Israel tendency spearheaded by the most powerful right-wing pundit in America and buoyed by widespread defection from a pro-Israel status quo among Republicans under age 50.

Carlson has insisted he is not antisemitic and that he has always liked Israel. His critics argue the distinction no longer matters, that the effect of his platform is the same regardless of intent.

He is hell-bent on bashing Israel, discussing it to the point of unhealthy obssession and it looks like he is not stopping anytime soon, if ever.