Tucker Carlson’s Latest Iran War Conspiracy Has Critics Warning He’s ‘Going To Get Someone Killed’

Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson has escalated his assault on the Iran war, claiming that a sect within Orthodox Judaism known as Chabad is manipulating America and Israel into launching a holy war to destroy one of Islam’s holiest sites.President Trump distanced himself from Mr. Carlson on Thursday, telling ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that “Tucker has lost his way” and “I knew that a long time ago.” Mr. Trump added that “he’s not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. And Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that.”An influential American hedge fund manager, Bill Ackman, who is Jewish, warned on X that Mr. Carlson “has reached a level of absurdity that is going to get someone killed.” He added that “Someone who knows him well needs to intervene or he will have blood on his hands.”In a video released Wednesday on his YouTube channel, which counts some 5.3 million subscribers, Mr. Carlson advanced a conspiratorial theory that the American and Israeli campaign against Iran is not geopolitical but part of a broader effort by the Jewish people to ignite a “holy war” against Islam and Christianity. The ultimate aim, he suggested, is the destruction of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the construction of the Third Jewish Temple in its place.The former Fox News host named Chabad, a sect within Hasidic Orthodox Judaism, as the architect of the scheme, alleging that the movement exerts control over Israel’s political and military leadership.Chabad operates institutions worldwide, providing educational and religious services to Jewish communities. President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, have ties to the movement, having regularly attended a Chabad synagogue during their years in Washington. Chabad centers have also been frequent targets of antisemitic terror. A shooting at a community Hanukkah celebration organized by Chabad at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December killed some 15 people.Mr. Carlson has not responded directly to criticism about the video, but in comments to the press he expressed both affection and annoyance with Mr. Trump. “There are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included,” he said. Mr. Carlson also stated “I’ll always love Trump, no matter what he says about me” and “I just think a war with Iran is deeply unwise.”The video has racked up more than 680,000 views in its first 15 hours. But Mr. Carlson’s core claim — that the Jewish people seek to destroy one of Islam’s holiest sites — is a centuries-old conspiracy theory that collapses under scrutiny. While some Orthodox Jews believe the arrival of the Messiah will prompt the rebuilding of the Temple, they view this as a divine, messianic event, not a human endeavor. No significant Jewish denomination advocates for destroying al-Aqsa to hasten its construction.Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone of Chabad pushed back directly on X, writing that the messianic era is defined not by conquest but by “world peace, when ‘Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,'” and that a rebuilt Temple would “be a house of prayer for all nations.” He added that “acts of destruction or the subjugation of other nations are an anathema” to that vision.Critics warned that Mr. Carlson’s claims mark a dangerous escalation and could encourage attacks on Chabad institutions. “Tucker is trying to pit Christians and Muslims against the Jews,” wrote an American venture capitalist and conservative activist, Shaun Maguire. “He knows exactly what he’s doing.” A Jewish advocacy group, StopAntisemitism, questioned whether Mr. Carlson’s goal is “to cause physical harm to Jews? Because that is where all of this is heading … and he knows it.” A conservative opinion writer and former senior editor-at-large at Breitbart News, Joel Pollak, branded Mr. Carlson’s claims as “insane and dangerous.” He added that Chabad “is a religious movement that focuses on getting Jews to be more involved in our faith. It is messianic but not militant. It has nothing to do with war.” The controversy comes as some influential conservative commentators have broken with the White House on America’s military campaign in Iran. A Former Fox News host, Megyn Kelly, who has also come out against the war, appeared to endorse Mr. Carlson’s video Thursday, telling a guest featured in it, Brandon Weichert, “you were great.” She then turned on Mr. Ackman, telling him to “spare us your above-it-all tsk-tsking on dialogue.”While Mr. Carlson maintains significant reach online, his standing with Mr. Trump appears to be waning. The president recently dismissed his criticism of the Iran campaign, saying he “can say whatever he wants, it has no impact on me.”Political analysts have speculated that Mr. Carlson may wield more over Vice President Vance, widely considered to be the leading frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Carlson reportedly helped secure Mr. Vance’s place on the 2024 ticket, and Mr. Vance has repeatedly vouched for him publicly. In an interview with UnHerd last December, Mr. Vance called it “absurd” to suggest that Mr. Carlson’s “views are somehow completely anathema to conservatism” or that “he has no place in the conservative movement.”

Tucker Carlson’s Latest Iran War Conspiracy Has Critics Warning He’s ‘Going To Get Someone Killed’

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