MAGA hawks and doves divided over potential US war with Iran

As cracks within Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) coalition become increasingly visible, a new point of contention has emerged: attacks on Iran.

Amid a debate over the possibility of the US joining Israel in a conflict against Iran, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon have emerged as the faces of MAGA resistance to American involvement.

Carlson and Bannon have long opposed US intervention in foreign conflicts, particularly in the Middle East. This stance has put them at odds with figures like Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.

Levin and Hannity emerge as MAGA ‘hawks’

These figures celebrated after Israel launched a series of strikes against Iran last week.

Following the announcement of Israel’s attacks, Levin took a victory lap on Hannity’s eponymous Fox News program, telling the host, “The Iranians are about to get a beating, and it’s been coming since Jimmy Carter. They think because it’s Joe Biden’s administration, they’re going to get away with it, they’re going to get nuclear weapons, and the world is going to sit there and not know what to do.”

Levin added that Israel would not “sit back and take it.” He has been campaigning against diplomatic relations with Iran for months, positioning himself as a leading advocate for military action within Trump’s circle.

Carlson to Levin and Hannity: ‘Warmongers’

Carlson and Bannon warned against US involvement in the Iran conflict. Last week, Bannon stated that Israel wants the US to “go on the offense” against Tehran, while Carlson labeled Levin and Hannity as “warmongers.”

Carlson reiterated his views in an interview with Bannon on Monday, saying, “The point is, if it’s hateful to say, ‘Hey, let’s focus on my country where I was born, where my family has lived for hundreds of years, that was the promise we made in the last election, please do that,’ then you’ve really lost your perspective, I guess is what I would say.”

The former Fox News host pointed to a series of domestic policy issues in the US that he would prefer the Trump administration to focus on, including immigration and the fentanyl crisis.

Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Carlson remarked, “It’s like, a leader of a country who does not have majority support in his own country… wants a course of action that involves the United States, and all of that is ignored because I don’t agree with it. Anyway, I think it’s going to happen. Who cares what I think.”

When Bannon asked, “You think we’re going to join the offensive operation?” Carlson replied, “Yes, we are.”

Bannon responded, “Well, we have to stop that, we can’t, we have to stop it.”

‘Like listening to your ex-wife scream for alimony payments’

Monday’s interview took place while Trump was at the G7 summit in Canada. During the summit, Trump avoided a reporter’s question about what it would take for the US to get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Trump said while alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This statement came a day after he told ABC it was “possible” the US would get involved.

On Monday, Carlson directly attacked Levin, stating, “When Mark Levin comes on television, it’s like listening to your ex-wife scream for alimony payments. It’s not attractive at all. That’s why they don’t put him on television. Then Sean [Hannity] insisted, and they gave him some weekend show that nobody watches.”

Hannity and Levin have become Carlson’s primary targets in recent days, especially after they celebrated Israel’s attacks on Hannity’s show last week.

In the days before the attack, Carlson had harshly criticized Levin after the host of The Mark Levin Show called Steve Witkoff, a potential Trump Middle East envoy, a “fifth-column isolationist” and mockingly discussed his handling of nuclear deal negotiations with Iran.

Accusing Fox News of ‘opening the propaganda hose’

On Monday, Carlson accused his former employer, Fox News, of “opening the propaganda hose” to instill a specific narrative in its viewers.

“What they’re doing is what they always do, which is turn the propaganda hose on full blast, wrap the old Fox viewers around the axle, and get them to bow to whatever you want,” he told Bannon.

The interview on Monday came after both MAGA figures drew a clear line regarding the US being drawn into Israel’s war with Iran.

“If you’re going to go it alone, you handle your business or you don’t. You don’t need us. You decide to go it alone,” Bannon said on his podcast last week, referring to Israel.

Carlson also reacted strongly to suggestions of US involvement, writing on X last week, “The real division isn’t between people who support Israel and those who support Iran or the Palestinians. The real division is between those who recklessly encourage violence and those who try to prevent it, between the warmongers and the peacemakers.”

“Who are the warmongers? Anyone who called Donald Trump today and demanded airstrikes and other direct US military involvement in a war with Iran is a warmonger,” Carlson added, taking a veiled shot at Netanyahu.

On Monday, Carlson told Bannon he believes the Iran-Israel conflict will escalate into a “full-scale war” involving many other countries, adding that it would be “very easy” for the US to be drawn in.

“We have so many assets in that region, we’re so dependent on the energy from that region… there’s so much that could go wrong,” Carlson said.

Trump clashes with Carlson

In an unprecedented move, Trump lashed out at commentator Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host and one of his most reliable media allies, for criticizing his stance on Iran.

“Will somebody please explain to the FAKE TUCKER CARLSON that Iran will NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network Monday evening.

During a meeting with the British prime minister at the G7 summit, which he left early due to the Middle East crisis, Trump said, “I don’t know what Tucker Carlson said. Let him find a television channel and people will listen.”

Last week, Carlson had called Trump “complicit” in Israel’s all-out war against Iran and criticized the “warmongers” encouraging “direct US involvement in the war.”

Flynn: Israeli victory will strengthen US global dominance

Meanwhile, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who briefly served as National Security Advisor in the first Trump administration, appeared on Bannon’s podcast, War Room, to argue in support of Israel’s attacks on Iran.

Flynn asserted that Israel should be allowed to “finish the Iran issue” so the US can “turn its full attention to the CCP.”

“Israel’s victory, or the perception of victory, will consolidate Israel’s dominance in the region and strengthen America’s global dominance,” he argued.

Claiming that Israel is defending “Western civilization” against a “psychopathic regime” while fighting its own war, Flynn suggested that an Israeli victory would also expand the scope of the Abraham Accords.

“The issue is China, China, China. Your audience has to understand that,” Flynn said, suggesting that a US capable of establishing a “positive” relationship with Iran would gain an advantage over China, thereby weakening it.

Pushing the ‘new Iranian regime’ toward the Indian subcontinent

Flynn argued that to stabilize the region, it is necessary to support an Israeli victory against the Iranian leadership, which he described as the most “destabilizing” element in the area.

Referring to organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Ansar Allah, Flynn claimed that Iran controls Iraq and Kurdistan.

He asserted that Arab nations in the region are closely watching the Israeli operation, claiming their militaries are incapable of conducting such operations, which he said is also important for the US.

The former advisor noted that an Iran closer to the West and the US would also mean an Iran closer to India, emphasizing that this is why they refer to the region as the “Indo-Pacific basin.”

“The Indo-Pacific basin is the defining element of this century,” Flynn said, warning that if they do not confront China, “the wolf will be inside the house.”