Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) blasted conservative pundit Tucker Carlson over his comments on the escalating conflict in the Middle East and potential U.S. involvement in the war between Israel and Iran.
“On foreign policy, Tucker has gone bat-crap crazy. He’s gone off the rails. He is suddenly a hardcore isolationist,” Cruz said on the latest episode of his “Verdict” podcast.
“He went from being an interventionist, far too eager to send in the Marines, to being an isolationist who says we should never, ever use the military, even when we’ve got a lunatic theocratic zealot who is trying to murder Americans and has murdered hundreds of Americans.”
Cruz’s comments came just hours after Carlson published a short clip from a recent interview he conducted with Cruz, during which the two sparred over U.S. policy toward the Middle East and how President Trump should react to the escalating crisis.
At one point during the contentious online interview, Carlson asked Cruz if he knew what the population of Iran is, and when Cruz said he didn’t know, the pundit mocked him.
“No, you don’t know anything about the country,” Cruz shot back at the former Fox News host. “You’re the one who claims they’re not trying to murder Donald Trump. You’re the one who can’t figure out if it was a good idea to kill Gen. [Qassem] Soleimani, and you said it was bad.”
Carlson has spoken openly against any potential U.S. involvement in Israel’s offensive against Tehran and called Trump “complicit” in the violence playing out in the region.
The ex-Fox News personality has a large online following, and he remains an influential voice in the larger MAGA movement on foreign policy.
Trump and those loyal to the president and Israel have pushed back on Carlson’s claims, with Cruz echoing that sentiment on his podcast this week.
“And so I actually think that view is a really fringe view in America,” the senator said. “It’s a fringe view in MAGA, and it’s a fringe view across the country.”
