Popular American commentator, journalist and conservative firebrand Tucker Carlson has publicly accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of boasting to foreign leaders that he controls both President Donald Trump and U.S. foreign policy, calling the situation "humiliating" for America.
The Tucker Carlson Show host made these remarks during a recent appearance on the System Update podcast hosted by Glenn Greenwald, where he also criticized U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza and argued that American leaders are being forced into actions detrimental to the nation's interests.
Carlson stated he has direct knowledge of Netanyahu's claims based on conversations with people who heard him say it, asserting that the Israeli leader is "running around" the Middle East and telling people point blank, "I control the United States. I control Donald Trump."
The conservative firebrand emphasized that his criticism is directed at U.S. leaders who, in his view, are allowing the country to be subjected to a "humiliation ritual" due to foreign influence, arguing that this undermines the fundamental relationship between citizens and their government.
Carlson described Israel's military actions in Gaza as an "expansion" and dismissed accusations of bigotry against him, stating he is not hurt by such labels because he knows he is not a bigot.
The conservative commentator has faced backlash from Jewish Zionists, for his remarks at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, where he recounted a story likening Kirk’s murder to the crucifixion of Jesus, including a scene of men in a lamplit room eating hummus plotting to kill Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthews 26: 1-5).
Critics, including Jewish groups and Israeli officials, have condemned the speech as an antisemitic dogwhistle, arguing that the reference to hummus—a modern Middle Eastern food—was a deliberate and offensive trope implying Jewish involvement in Kirk’s assassination.
Carlson defended his remarks in the System Update podcast interview., pointing out that he categorically and publicly makes his views about Israel and Netanyahu known, and doesn't need to imply it in a speech about Kirk.
While prominent Zionist and Jewish neoconservative voices criticized the speech, many MAGA-aligned conservative movement’s figures, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Congressman and OANN host Matt Gaetz praised Carlson's speech.
The controversy underscores the growing concern on the American right over Israeli influence on U.S. foreign policy especially in the Middle East. Growing number of conservatives -- traditionally allied with the Israeli right -- have started in recent years, started questioning the policies of Netanyahu's government in the region since the break out of the ongoing genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza. "It is America First, not Israel First," is a common meme on social media among right-leaning critics of Trump's bizarrely submissive pro-Israel policies.
