Musical Chairs: Carlson Abandons Trump as Dershowitz Leaves Democrats Over Israel

In a striking political realignment driven by Middle East foreign policy, conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has publicly severed ties with President Trump over the ongoing war with Iran, while prominent legal scholar Alan Dershowitz has announced his departure from the Democratic Party over its shifting stance on Israel.The dual defections highlight the polarizing impact of foreign alliances on American political allegiances. Mr. Carlson, once a staunch defender of the president, has taken a drastic turn, claiming the president’s foreign policy is being dictated by foreign powers.“I’ve always liked Trump and still feel sorry for him, as I do for all slaves,” the former Fox News host said in a recent interview, explicitly criticizing the president’s handling of the war. He added that Mr. Trump “can’t make his own decisions” and is “hemmed in by other forces.” Asked directly if he believed Mr. Trump was a slave to Israeli leadership, Mr. Carlson said, “I don’t think it is as simple as ‘he is under the control of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,’ but you could certainly summarize it that way and you wouldn’t be totally inaccurate.”On the other side of the aisle, legal eagle Alan Dershowitz formally announced he is leaving the Democratic Party, citing a growing anti-Israel sentiment among its ranks. “I can no longer remain in a party that tolerates and even elevates voices that are openly hostile to the State of Israel,” Mr. Dershowitz wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. “The Democratic Party has abandoned its historic, bipartisan support for our greatest ally in the Middle East, opting instead to appease a radical fringe.”Mr. Dershowitz elaborated on his breaking point, noting, “When support for Israel becomes a partisan litmus test, and when defending the Jewish state is met with condemnation from the party’s progressive wing, it is time to walk away. I am a liberal, but I am a Zionist first, and I will not compromise my principles for a party that has lost its moral compass.”The legal scholar also said he would be taking an adversarial role in coming elections. “I intend to work hard to prevent the Democrats from gaining control of the House … and Senate, and I urge those who share my concerns about the increasing influence of radicalisms in the Democratic Party to vote, campaign, and contribute for continued Republican control of Congress,” he wrote in the op-ed.The feud between Mr. Carlson and Mr. Trump has escalated rapidly. In a recent newsletter to his subscribers, Mr. Carlson claimed Mr. Trump is facing “a level of pressure that most people cannot fathom,” going so far as to suggest Israel might be extorting the administration. “Establishment media never reports this, but the Israeli government has a storied history of blackmailing U.S. presidents,” Mr. Carlson wrote. “Based on the country’s past, its leaders are doubtlessly willing to push as hard as necessary to ensure the bloodshed continues. That could mean Clinton-style blackmail against Trump or something far more morbid.”Mr. Trump fired back on his Truth Social platform, targeting Mr. Carlson and other former allies like Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones, who have all criticized his decision to enter an “endless” conflict with Iran.“These so-called ‘pundits’ are losers, and they always will be!” Mr. Trump wrote. “Now fake news CNN, the failing New York Times, and all of the other radical left ‘news’ organizations, are ‘hailing’ them, and giving them ‘positive’ press for the first time in their lives. They’re not ‘MAGA,’ they’re losers, just trying to latch on to MAGA.”The fallout has deeply affected Mr. Carlson’s inner circle, prompting his son, Buckley Carlson, to resign as Vice President JD Vance’s deputy press secretary. For Mr. Carlson himself, the political break is a matter of profound regret.During an interview Monday on “The Tucker Carlson Show” with his brother, Buckley — a former Trump speechwriter — Mr. Carlson officially apologized for his past support. “You wrote speeches for him; I campaigned for him. I mean, we’re implicated in this, for sure,” Mr. Carlson said to his brother. “So I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences. You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people, and it was not intentional. That’s all I’ll say.”

Musical Chairs: Carlson Abandons Trump as Dershowitz Leaves Democrats Over Israel

More from the New York Sun

‘Schmigadoon!’ Gleefully Sends Up Broadway Classics, but Soon Runs Out of Gas

Can GOP Conservatives Block Elizabeth Warren?

Banking, Blockading, and the Final Iranian Financial Squeeze

Judge Spares Suspect in Bizarre Plot To Kidnap a North Korean Diplomat From Extradition to Spain

Angry Anti-Trump Journalists Urge White House Correspondents Group To ‘Demonstrate Opposition’ to Trump at Dinner

House Republicans Demand Answers Over Mysterious Deaths, Disappearances of High-Level American Scientists

UN Peacekeeping: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Exclusive: Trump Mounts New Push To Move Appeal of Stormy Daniels Case to Less Hostile Federal Court