President Donald Trump dismissed criticism from right-wing media figures Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly over the U.S. launching a military operation against Iran, claiming the pair did not represent the MAGA movement.
“MAGA is Trump — MAGA’s not the other two,” Trump told reporter Rachael Bade on Monday, his first remarks on the torrent of criticism from right-wing media figures opposing war in Iran. The war has so far resulted in the deaths of six U.S. soldiers, while an attack that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and 40 of his top officials.
Carlson did not respond to an immediate request for comment. A spokesperson for Kelly did not respond to an immediate request for comment. The White House referred TheWrap to the president’s remarks.
Carlson and Kelly are two of the most prominent conservatives who’ve criticized Trump’s decision to strike Iran alongside Israel. Carlson told ABC News on Saturday that the attacks were “absolutely disgusting and evil,” a remark that came after Carlson met with Trump in three separate Oval Office visits to lobby against military force given concerns that U.S. soldiers would be put in harm’s way and the implication the U.S. was following Israel’s demands, according to the New York Times.
Kelly said on her podcast that she didn’t understand the administration’s explanation for the strikes and had “serious doubts” about their necessity, arguing the soldiers died not for the U.S. but “for Iran or for Israel.”
Trump told Bade that Carlson “can say whatever he wants; it has no impact on me,” while he said Kelly had opposed him for years before endorsing him, suggesting she may change her position again. He also said she “outta study her history book a little bit.”
“Some people are against — and they always come back. She came all the way back,” Trump said. “But now I guess she maybe doesn’t like the idea of this war, but I do because I have to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of the Iranians.”
Other right-wing commentators have expressed significant skepticism over the operation, including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Mike Cernovich, Daily Wire host Matt Walsh and podcaster Candace Owens.
