Trump Trounces Tucker

A lot of us have been wondering if and when Trump would slap down Tucker Carlson. 

Tucker has been taking potshots—no, firing broadsides—at Trump’s policies and the core beliefs of almost every conservative for most of his time as a podcaster. He has essentially called anybody who supports Israel demonic, while implicitly supporting the expansion of Sharia law into the West. 

He has backstabbed Trump, tried to destroy him and his base, and provided aid and comfort to our enemies. 

Hasn’t Trump noticed? 

He has:

President Trump posts an article by Douglas Murray that highlights Tucker Carlson’s extremism, embrace of Islamists, and America Last:

The article is titled: “Deranged Tucker Carlson backstabs Trump”

Several of the top lines in the piece include:

-“While the president has… pic.twitter.com/FffUxE491w

— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) April 2, 2026

Trump posted a link to Douglas Murray’s piece, which absolutely eviscerated Tucker, within about half an hour after his speech to the nation. Obviously, it was top of mind, and the two events are obviously linked directly in his mind. 

Trump is at war, and Tucker is a traitor to both the President and the nation. That is the message, and I have to say that everybody I know, at least, believes it. 

Murray didn’t hold back, and by extension, Trump isn’t either. 

In politics, it is often the people who you think have your back who end up stabbing you there.

Nobody knows that better than Donald Trump, who has been stabbed in the back more times than Julius Caesar — yet has still survived.

This week, part of the noisy right-wing online podcast-sphere again turned on the president.

Leading the virtual charge, again, was Trump’s one-time cheerleader, Tucker Carlson.

By not addressing Tucker directly and allowing Murray to do so, Trump is sending a second message: you are dead to me. 

The president’s strong Middle East policy seems to have particularly deranged his one-time supporter.

While the president has advocated a strong defense of America’s regional allies, Carlson has spent 100% of his time trying to turn the MAGA base against Israel and in favor of Islamist regimes.

His podcast has become a remorseless roll call of Holocaust deniers, antisemites, Islamic extremists and World War II revisionists.

While attacking Trump, Carlson eagerly softball-interviews people who love both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

Many sane people have tuned Tucker out in recent months. Some of us were originally shocked by his apparent belief that Russia has a better society than the United States. 

Others of us turned our backs when Tucker started hosting cranks who think Hitler was the good guy in World War II. Or when he said feudalism was superior to Western liberalism. Or when he started praising Sharia law. Or when he started his Jew-hate. Or…

While accusing everyone else of being obsessed with Israel, Carlson has obsessed about nothing else.

While saying “We’re not allowed to talk about Jews,” he has talked about nothing but Jews.

This obsession has culminated in a total derangement over the president’s Iran policy.

Carlson and other people in the right-wing podcast-sphere pretend to be confused by the president acting to stop the mullahs from getting an atomic bomb.

At one and the same time, they say Iran was never seeking nuclear weapons. And that Iran has the right to nuclear weapons.

They pretend the Iranians were nowhere near having a nuclear weapon. But that it would be understandable if they were.

This culminated in Carlson calling Trump’s actions “evil.”

Tucker has built up a lot of goodwill with conservatives over the years, not because we always agreed with him, but because his sharp takes often seemed worth considering, making his voice worth having in the mix. Right or wrong, he was interesting, and not in a car-crash sort of way. 

Here is Tucker Carlson recently saying that concern about Radical Islamic terrorism is an “op” by a foreign government and that he didn’t know anyone in America killed by Radical Islamic Terrorism in 24 years…

pic.twitter.com/TaWnrAsNlm https://t.co/zSKfq7p4hn

— AG (@AGHamilton29) March 11, 2026

Trump seemed to echo that. He platformed Tucker even though they occasionally differed on policies, and gave him a huge spotlight as a headliner at Trump rallies. 

Now Tucker is calling Trump’s policies “evil,” and leading a movement of people who are trying to take Trump down. 

If Tucker were only disagreeing with Trump on a policy, I think Trump would have remained quiet. But clearly Tucker is trying to start a movement, and that movement is, itself, in the service of evil ideas. Deranged, you might say. 

This is just such a bald faced and amazingly stupid lie. “Everyone” is not afraid of being physically hurt by Israel. Tucker is flat out making that up or he’s lost his mind even more than I thought. Just nonsense. https://t.co/Rqpm2xPhRn

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) April 2, 2026

Trump has brushed back Tucker in recent weeks, but in the way he brushed back people like Vance and Rubio when he thought they were in his way. Insults, which in Trumpworld are as normal as they are in NYC construction worksites. Part of the give and take. 

Sharing Murray’s piece to his base is not that. It signals a beatdown. 

“You’re dead to me.” At least that’s how I read it.