Tucker Carlson Ignites Conservative Civil War by Branding Sean Hannity, Fox Allies as Iran “Warmongers”
June 14, 2025 – Right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson has launched a blistering attack against his former Fox News colleagues Sean Hannity and Mark Levin, accusing them of being “warmongers” for championing U.S. military involvement in Israel’s escalating conflict with Iran. The public feud, unfolding across social media and news platforms, exposes a deepening fracture within Donald Trump’s political coalition as Israel’s strikes kill Iranian generals and scientists while Iran retaliates with missile barrages targeting Tel Aviv.
Carlson’s condemnation came hours after Israel’s devastating June 12–13 bombings, which killed three Iranian generals, six nuclear scientists, and dozens of military commanders. Iran responded by launching ballistic missiles toward Israel and withdrawing from scheduled nuclear talks with the U.S. In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), Carlson framed the crisis as a moral battle: “The real divide isn’t between people who support Israel and people who support Iran or Palestinians. The real divide is between those who casually encourage violence and those who seek to prevent it—between warmongers and peacemakers.” He explicitly named Hannity, Levin, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter, and GOP megadonor Miriam Adelson as figures lobbying Trump for direct U.S. military strikes against Iran.
The accusation triggered an immediate firestorm. Levin, a Fox Business host, retaliated by calling Carlson a “reckless and deceitful propagandist” who “promotes antisemitism and conspiracy nuts.” Hannity, meanwhile, remained publicly silent but published an op-ed arguing Israel’s attacks constituted “bold self-defense” that served “the entire world.” Behind the scenes, tensions are volcanic: Levin and Perlmutter reportedly urged Trump to greenlight Israeli bombings during a private White House lunch, while Carlson aligned himself with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, whose nuclear negotiations with Iran collapsed after the strikes.
Carlson’s criticism extended to Trump himself. In a newsletter titled “This Could Be the Final Newsletter Before All-Out War,” he declared the president “complicit” in the violence, citing years of U.S. weapons funding to Israel. “Washington knew these attacks would happen,” Carlson wrote. “Politicians purporting to be America First can’t credibly say they had nothing to do with it.” He demanded the U.S. cease all involvement: “No funding, no American weapons, no troops on the ground. Let Israel fight its own wars.” Trump later denied direct U.S. participation but admitted he knew about Israel’s raid in advance, urging Iran to “make a deal before there is nothing left.”
The clash represents more than personal animosity—it highlights an ideological schism gripping the MAGA movement. On one side stand interventionists like Hannity and Levin, who view Israel’s actions as critical to Western security. Levin asserted on air that Israel is “fighting a war for people who believe in liberty,” while Hannity’s website claimed the nation was “fending off extinction.” On the other side, Carlson leads an isolationist faction warning that Middle Eastern entanglements betray Trump’s “America First” mandate. Right-wing podcaster Jack Posobiec echoed Carlson, cautioning that backing Israeli strikes “would disastrously split the Trump coalition” and jeopardize GOP electoral prospects.
This feud is rooted in years of internal strife. Carlson was fired from Fox News in 2023 after Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit exposed private texts mocking Trump as a “demonic force” and disparaging colleagues. Levin previously called Carlson a “loathsome ass” in May 2025 after Carlson accused him of “lobbying for war.” Their rivalry mirrors broader Fox News turmoil, where stars like Laura Ingraham privately scorned the network’s journalists for debunking election fraud claims in 2020, with one producer quitting because he “couldn’t defend his employer to his daughter.”
As U.S. missiles assist Israel in intercepting Iranian attacks, Carlson’s “warmonger” label has transformed a policy dispute into a litmus test for conservative loyalty. With Iran vowing to target nations aiding Israel, and Trump torn between allies and base pressure, this battle of media titans may dictate whether rhetorical hostilities escalate into a full-scale war—and redefine the future of American conservatism.