{"id":19838,"date":"2026-03-10T20:03:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/ted-cruz-tucker-carlson-reignite-feud-over-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T20:03:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:03:47","slug":"ted-cruz-tucker-carlson-reignite-feud-over-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/ted-cruz-tucker-carlson-reignite-feud-over-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson reignite feud over Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sen. Ted Cruz and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson are again trading barbs over Israel and antisemitism, as they renew their feud over the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe Tucker Carlson is the single most dangerous demagogue in this country,\u201d the Texas Republican senator said Tuesday during an antisemitism symposium<\/u><\/a> in Washington hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition and National Review, before promising to directly take on the popular conservative podcast host.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen more antisemitism in the last 18 months on the right than at any point in my lifetime,\u201d Cruz continued. \u201cIt is being spread by loud voices, the most consequential of whom is Tucker Carlson.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s remarks come after Carlson belittled Cruz and other Americans who trust Israeli military intelligence during his podcast last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo offense to Ted Cruz or all the other dumbos who are always saying, \u2018we get all this actionable intelligence, it’s so important, we need [Israel] so desperately,\u2019\u201d Carlson said in the March 2 episode. \u201cReally? Let\u2019s evaluate the quality of that intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ongoing feud between the two leading conservative figures \u2014 both podcast hosts and potential 2028 presidential candidates \u2014 represents the latest flare-up in a major schism within the party and a likely proxy battle ahead of the next Republican presidential primary, when discussions over the U.S.\u2019 alliance with Israel and combating antisemitism domestically could be defining issues.<\/p>\n

Carlson, arguably the most influential pundit on the conservative right, remains close to the White House and buzzed about as a potential presidential contender, even as many Republicans \u2014 including Cruz \u2014 denounce him. And Cruz, who finished second in the 2016 GOP presidential primary to Trump, is positioning himself ahead of a possible run in 2028.<\/p>\n

When asked Tuesday about Cruz\u2019s latest comments, Carlson offered a curt response. \u201cPretty funny,\u201d he said via text. “He\u2019s running for president against me, which I find amusing since I\u2019m not in the race.”<\/p>\n

Cruz has repeatedly criticized Carlson for hosting avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes on his podcast and not challenging Fuentes\u2019 claim that the \u201cbig challenge\u201d to unifying the country is \u201corganized Jewry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz has signaled that fighting antisemitism and standing with Israel could be a central part of a potential 2028 bid. \u201cI don\u2019t want to wake up in five years and find myself in a country where both major political parties are unambiguously antisemitic,\u201d Cruz said Tuesday. \u201cI think that is a real possibility, if Tucker and his minions prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two have long held differing views on the Middle East \u2014 and have been directly sparring for months.<\/p>\n

In June 2025, Carlson hosted Cruz on an episode<\/u><\/a> of the \u201cTucker Carlson Show,\u201d which consistently ranks as one of the most-streamed podcasts on Spotify<\/u><\/a>. The two sparred over Iran, and Carlson said Cruz didn\u2019t \u201cknow anything\u201d about \u201cthe country you seek to topple.\u201d Cruz, in return, implied Carlson\u2019s criticism of Israel was antisemitic.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not talking about the Chinese, you\u2019re not talking about the Japanese, you\u2019re not talking about the British, you\u2019re not talking about the French,\u201d Cruz told Carlson. \u201cYou\u2019re asking, \u2018why are the Jews controlling our foreign policy?\u2019 That\u2019s what you just asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent episode<\/u><\/a> of his own podcast, \u201cVerdict with Ted Cruz\u201d \u2014 which was the most-streamed podcast<\/u><\/a> of any sitting elected official in the U.S. last year \u2014 Cruz launched a defense of his interview with Carlson, saying Carlson was \u201coff the rails.\u201d Later, in November, during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition\u2019s annual leadership summit<\/u><\/a> in Las Vegas, Cruz denounced Carlson as a \u201ccoward\u201d; at a Federalist Society event in Washington<\/u><\/a> days later, Cruz said many of his Republican allies are \u201cfrightened\u201d to call out Carlson because \u201che has one hell of a big megaphone.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who spoke before Cruz at the symposium, seemed to downplay that concern. Though he didn\u2019t say Carlson by name, he downplayed what he called \u201cso-called influencers\u201d who traffic in antisemitism. \u201cThey are not influential,\u201d Cotton said. \u201cThey are at least not influential with Donald Trump, who continues to reject their kooky advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlson\u2019s anti-Israel ideas \u2014 which are the main subject of Cruz\u2019s ire \u2014 have garnered increasing support, particularly among young Republicans. The latestYale Youth Poll<\/u><\/a> found that Americans under the age of 35 are far more likely than older Americans to think that U.S. Jews \u201chave too much power.\u201d In the last three years, the share of Republicans under the age of 50 with a negative view of Israel jumped from 35 percent to 50 percent, pera Pew poll<\/u><\/a> conducted last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Ted Cruz and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson are again trading barbs over Israel and antisemitism, as they renew their feud over the war in Iran. \u201cI believe Tucker Carlson is the single most dangerous demagogue in this country,\u201d the Texas Republican senator said Tuesday during an antisemitism symposium in Washington hosted by the Republican […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}