Carlson escalates war on Trump over ‘nuclear’ option against Iran, calls for his ‘immediate’ removal

Carlson’s attack comes amid his growing estrangement from the pro-Israel conservative movement, driven largely by his fierce opposition to confronting Iran and his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric surrounding Israel and Jews.

By World Israel News Staff

Tucker Carlson, whose increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel and Jews has sparked a major backlash on the American right, called for President Donald Trump to be removed from office if he is considering the first use of nuclear weapons.

“The second any president actively considers the first use of nuclear weapons, that person should be removed from office immediately, because that’s got to be the red line, destroying all of humanity with a nuclear strike,” Carlson said.

The extraordinary demand marks a dramatic turn for Carlson, once one of Trump’s most influential media allies and a fierce opponent of Democratic efforts to remove him from office.

There is also no public evidence that Trump has said he is considering a nuclear first strike.

Carlson made the comments during an interview on Friday with Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center who resigned from the Trump administration earlier this year in opposition to the war against Iran.

“Why isn’t there an attempt to remove him from office, like, immediately?” Carlson asked. “Anyone who would even tolerate that kind of talk from any of his subordinates or employees is by definition unfit.”

Carlson pointed to comments by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, who said Pentagon officials were working to ensure that the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have “credible, rational nuclear options.”

But Colby did not announce plans for a nuclear attack on Iran. The United States has also historically declined to adopt a blanket “no first use” nuclear policy, preserving strategic ambiguity as part of its deterrence doctrine.

From MAGA ally to Trump antagonist

Carlson’s attack comes amid his growing estrangement from the pro-Israel conservative movement, driven largely by his fierce opposition to confronting Iran and his increasingly inflammatory rhetoric surrounding Israel and Jews.

That rupture intensified after Carlson hosted white nationalist Nick Fuentes, an open antisemite and Hitler admirer, for a lengthy and friendly interview in which Fuentes attacked “organized Jewry in America.”

Carlson also attacked prominent Christian supporters of Israel, including Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, claiming Christian Zionists had been afflicted by a “brain virus.”

During a later interview with Huckabee in Israel, Carlson questioned the ancestral connection of Ashkenazi Jews to the Land of Israel and suggested genetic testing could establish who had a legitimate historical claim to the land. Huckabee accused Carlson of promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

The Anti-Defamation League has described Carlson as “one of the most prolific amplifiers of antisemitic and conspiracy theory-laden content online.”

Carlson’s guest blamed Israel for Iran war

Carlson’s choice of guest Friday was also notable.

When Kent resigned from the Trump administration, he argued that Iran did not pose an imminent threat to the United States and blamed America’s involvement in the conflict on “Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Carlson has repeatedly advanced a similar argument, portraying confrontation with Tehran as something pushed on America by Israel and its supporters.

That view stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s longstanding position that preventing the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons is itself a vital American national-security interest.

It also represents a striking departure from the conservative doctrine of peace through strength: maintaining overwhelming American deterrence, supporting strategic allies and confronting hostile regimes before they become greater threats.

The divide between Trump and Carlson has now become openly personal.

Last week, Trump blasted Carlson on Truth Social after he met with Rep. Thomas Massie and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, calling his former ally “totally irrelevant” and a “loser.”

Carlson has now gone considerably further.

The commentator who once fiercely opposed attempts to remove Trump from office is himself calling for Trump’s removal — based on a nuclear scenario the president has never publicly proposed.

For Carlson’s pro-Israel conservative critics, it is the latest indication of just how far one of MAGA’s former media giants has traveled from the movement he once helped lead.