American commentator and journalist Tucker Carlson apologized on during a conversation with comedian Dave Smith on Tuesday, for his previous remarks in which he claimed to dislike Christian Zionists, saying he was "mad" and that the comments were not reflective of his true feelings.

The controversy originated from a prior interview with right-wing podcaster Nick Fuentes, where Carlson criticized Christian Zionism and named figures like U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, former U.S. President George W. Bush, and former National Security Advisor during President Trump's first term, John Bolton as victims of this ideology. The conservative firebrand referred to Chrisitian Zionism as "Christian heresy" and a "brain virus."

The interview sparked backlash from pro-Israel jewish neocons and Zionists, with Republican Senator Ted Cruz condemning Carlson for associating with Fuentes, claiming that he had seen more antisemitism on the right in the past six months than in his entire life.

Carlson admitted he regretted saying he "disliked Christian Zionists more than anybody" because he was "mad" and lacked nuance, emphasizing that he does not hate the people themselves, whom he described as "really good people and sweet people."

His criticism, he said, stems from his distress over Israeli military actions in Gaza, specifically strikes that hit Christian churches, which he claimed were not accidents and were a major source of his frustration.

Carlson argued that using biblical mandates to justify such actions is "extremely upsetting" and contradicts Christian teachings, stating that "there’s no justification for that in the New Testament, period."

The apology comes amid a broader conservative debate over Israel's influence on U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics, and the role of Christian Zionism within the American right, with Carlson criticizing Jewish neocon Ben Shapiro for his hypocritical identity politics as a "proud Zionist" while opposing it in other contexts.

Several Jewish leaders have since resigned from Heritage Foundation since its President Kevin Roberts defended Carlson. Critics slammed the Jewish leaders, calling them "Israel Firsters," who put the interests of Israel before that of the United States.

A major controversy has erupted on the American right following Tucker Carlson's recent two-hour podcast interview with Nick Fuentes, a right-wing activist known for his America First anti-Israel views and white-nationalist ideology.

The debate recently intensified when Kevin Roberts, president of the influential conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, defended Carlson, stating that conservatives should focus on the left rather than attack allies on the right, and that supporting Israel is not a requirement for conservatives.

This defense sparked immediate backlash from pro-Israel neoconservatives, Heritage staffers, Republican senators, and Jewish leaders, including RJC CEO Matt Brooks, who called the remarks "appalled, offended and disgusted."

The controversy has exposed divisions within the conservative movement over free speech, antisemitism, and the boundaries of acceptable discourse, with prominent figures like Ted Cruz condemning the interview and calling for de-platforming and 'canceling' people like Fuentes. While majority and growing number of young conservatives call for open debate and opposition to Israeli influence on American foreign policy.

The interview featured Fuentes expressing views that include criticism of "organized Jewry in America" and praise for Joseph Stalin. While Carlson disagreed with Fuentes' claim that Jewish loyalty to the U.S. is suspect, he also praised Fuentes multiple times and criticized "Christian Zionists" like Ted Cruz and George W. Bush, calling their beliefs a "brain virus."

The conversation has been widely condemned by Jewish neoconservative commentators, including Mark Levin, who criticized the amplification of anti-Israel rhetoric for clicks and controversy. The interview has become a flashpoint in the broader debate over whether the conservative movement should tolerate or distance itself from figures with overtly anti-Israel views.

Roberts' defense of Carlson, in a video posted on October 30, denied that the Heritage Foundation was distancing itself from the former Fox News host, calling the idea a "false narrative." Roberts argued that while antisemitism is wrong, conservatives do not need to always support Israel, and that canceling figures like Fuentes is not the answer—instead, ideas should be challenged through debate.

This stance drew sharp rebuke from within the organization, with Heritage researcher Preston Brashers posting a "NAZIS ARE BAD" meme and stating he was prepared to resign over the issue. Roberts later issued a statement condemning Fuentes' "vicious antisemitic ideology" and Holocaust denial, but the initial defense had already fueled a significant internal and external rift.

The backlash has been swift and broad. Ted Cruz, speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Leadership Summit in Las Vegas on October 30, 2025 in Las Vegas, stated that he has seen more antisemitism on the right in the past six months than in his entire life, and accused Carlson of being complicit by not confronting Fuentes' views.

RJC CEO Matt Brooks echoed this sentiment, calling the defense of Carlson "appalled, offended and disgusted." Other prominent conservative voices, including Levin, have criticized the trend of giving platform to provocateurs, arguing it undermines the movement’s moral authority and electoral viability.

During his own speech at the RJC, Jewish supremacist Randy Fine branded Carlson as “the most dangerous antisemite in America,” warning that “a dark force is rising” and calling Carlson the leader of a modern-day Hitler Youth. He claims Carlson has no place inside the MAGA movement because of his criticism of Israel.

The controversy has also drawn attention to the growing influence of figures like Candace Owens, whose popularity among young conservatives has surged amid increasing skepticism toward U.S. support for Israel.

The incident reflects a larger ideological struggle within the Republican Party and the conservative movement. As the Trump administration continues to crack down on alleged antisemitism on college campuses, critics argue that the administration conflates criticism of Israel's actions with antisemitism.

Growing number of conservatives have started questioning America's costly support for Israel which has cost American in blood and treasure fighting wars in the Middle East on behalf of the Jewish nation. This support, critics argue, is only possible because of the undue influence of Jewish lobby and groups like AIPAC.

The debate over the Fuentes interview has become a litmus test for the movement’s future direction—whether it will prioritize free speech and a broad coalition that includes all important voices or enforce stricter boundaries against criticisms of Israeli influence.

Rabid pro-Israel voices like Josh Hammer, Fine and Levin have also been called out by critics for their vile rhetoric inciting violence against America First voices like Carlson and Owens.

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket on the Bandwagon-4 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Nov. 2, at 0509 UTC, carrying 18 payloads into low Earth orbit. The primary payload, referred to as the "cake topper," was the fifth 425 Korea satellite from South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD), which is part of their Project 425 program.

The Falcon 9’s first stage booster, B1091, completed its third flight and successfully returned to Earth approximately eight minutes after liftoff, landing at Cape Canaveral’s Landing Zone-2. This marked the 528th Falcon 9 booster landing to date and the 15th landing at LZ-2, which is expected to be retired soon as SpaceX transitions to a new landing zone at pad 40.

The upper stage continued into orbit and deployed the 18 payloads over a period of about an hour, beginning with the separation of ADD’s Korea 435 satellite around 12 minutes after liftoff.

The mission marked the fourth in SpaceX's Bandwagon series, designed for mid-inclination orbits, and was SpaceX's 140th Falcon 9 launch of 2025.

"While our Transporter rideshare missions launch to a sun synchronous orbit, Bandwagon missions launch to a mid-inclination orbit, filling the gaps for customers that wish to expand their coverage or complete unique objectives not possible with SSO," SpaceX wrote on X.

Among the 18 payloads was Haven Demo, an experimental precursor satellite developed by California-based Vast Space for its planned Haven-1 private space station. Haven Demo is intended to test critical systems for Haven-1, including propulsion, flight computers, and navigation software, serving as the first step in Vast’s iterative approach to building next-generation space stations.

If successful, Haven-1 is scheduled to be launched into low Earth orbit (LEO) on a Falcon 9 rocket as early as the second quarter of 2026, potentially making it the first independent private space station in human history  Haven-1 is designed to be a human-centric space station capable of hosting up to four astronauts and serving as an innovation lab for both private and government missions.

"The first step in our iterative approach towards building next-generation space stations, Haven Demo will test critical systems for Haven-1, including propulsion, flight computers and navigation software," Vast wrote in a description of the satellite.

The other 16 payloads included satellites from Berlin-based Exolaunch, Turkey’s Fergani Space, weather forecasting company Tomorrow Companies, and Starcloud, a company planning to build data centers in space. Notably, Starcloud’s satellite carried an NVIDIA H100 GPU, marking a significant step in advancing space-based computing.

As its name suggests, Bandwagon-4 was the fourth mission in SpaceX's Bandwagon series to lift off. The company also operates another rideshare program called Transporter, which has 14 launches to its name to date.

Bandwagon-4 was the 140th Falcon 9 launch of 2025 already. More than 70% of the rocket's missions this year have been dedicated to building out Starlink, SpaceX's ever-growing broadband megaconstellation.