Tucker Carlson Criticizes Trump’s Comments on Israel Approval Ratings

Tucker Carlson tore into Donald Trump for ‘bragging about his popularity’ amongst Israelis on Wednesday. The former Fox News host played a clip of Trump telling reporters earlier in the day that he has a 99 percent approval rating in the far-flung country and should thus consider a ‘run for prime minister.’ Carlson, 57, promptly unloaded on the president for ‘bragging about his popularity’ in a foreign country. ‘Unmentioned is the fact that he’s 35 percent in the United States,’ Carlson said. ‘The people he pledged to represent, to fight for, whose side he promised to take in every conflict, foreign and domestic.’ Carlson claimed it was Israel pulling Trump’s domestic approval ratings down. ‘The same country that got us into the war,’ he continued.

Trump made the call to attack Iran alongside Israel in February following years of ‘America first’ policies. Carlson – a former Trump supporter – has since made his opposition known. ‘The last year has not made America great again. The last year has diminished American power at a rate some of us thought was unimaginable,’ he said Wednesday, calling the perceived pivot a ‘cold-hearted globalist betrayal.’ The jab was a quote from a 2020 speech Trump gave criticizing the Obama administration for ‘sen[ding] our youth to fight in these crazy, endless wars.’ ‘That’s exactly what it was,’ Carlson said after playing the clip. ‘One cold-hearted globalist betrayal after another.’

‘Charlie Kirk was very upset about this. He was articulate in explaining why he was upset about it, and he sincerely believed that Trump would change it. Trump and people like Thomas Massie,’ Carlson continued. Massie is an outgoing Kentucky Republican who lost a congressional reelection bid this week following repeated critiques of Israel. Another Republican, Israel supporter Ed Gallrein, won the primary instead, with Trump’s endorsement. ‘It’s hard to imagine what [Kirk] would think about the remarks that Donald Trump – the same man that he voted for and campaigned for, went to pray for in the church the morning of the inauguration – what he would have thought of the Donald Trump on display yesterday,’ Carlson said.

Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, a supporter of Israel who worked with Kirk during his final college tour, told Semafor that the activist had been frustrated with the amount of Israel-related questions he encountered on college campuses before his death. ‘He just wanted to talk about America,’ Wolicki continued at the time. Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Alex Jones have all split with the president as well due to his decision to go to war.

When asked about Carlson’s recent comments, a White House spokesperson said: ‘What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump did with the successful Operation Epic Fury. ‘President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which is what this noble operation accomplishes. ‘The president does not make these incredibly important national security decisions based on fluid opinion polls or podcast hosts, but on the best interest of the American people.’