MAGA turmoil strikes
Israel-Iran conflict divides America First faithful
President Donald Trump addressed the nation Saturday evening after B-2 bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles were used to destroy three Iranian nuclear sites Saturday evening. In the background are Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The White House
For MAGA faithful, the only thing that matters is America.
They’re done with “forever wars” and the countless ways the American government spends billions upon trillions of dollars–anywhere except America.
They’re not wrong, given the more than 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq and more than $36 trillion national debt.
However, Israel’s pre-emptive strike on Iran is creating tension among MAGA acolytes that makes the recent President Donald Trump-Elon Musk dustup look like a food fight.
Trump called Tucker Carlson “kooky” for letting Iranians get nukes.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon interviewed Carlson on Monday because both want nothing to do with another Middle East war. Add Infowars’ Alex Jones and right-of-center grifter Candace Owens to the list.
Perhaps the most MAGA member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, joins the group. She exploded on X last weekend with an America First diatribe.
However, Trump responded to everyone.
There is reason for concern. Trump campaigned on no “forever wars,” which gained traction with Independents. America could become entangled in a war that involves many nations.
It’s the first real sign of a MAGA crisis.
It started the morning of June 13 when Carlson published his newsletter by writing Trump was “complicit in an act of war” by stating: “No funding, no American weapons, no troops on the ground. It is not in our national interest.” Carlson added the U.S. should “drop Israel.” That same day, Carlson went to X to name “warmongers”: Sean Hannity; Mark Levin; Rupert Murdoch; Ike Perlmutter; and Miriam Adelson.
On Monday, Carlson appeared on Bannon’s podcast, noting he believed the U.S. would join Israel.
This is a scene from the Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz interview this week on Israel and Iran. Tucker Carlson Network via thedailybeast.com
While Carlson apologized to Trump by Wednesday, Carlson did a combative interview with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, as The DailyBeast reported.
Before the Bannon-Carlson interview happened, Greene rejected the idea of the U.S. joining Israel on June 15.
She wrote the following on X:
Everyone is finding out who are real America First/MAGA and who were fake and just said it bc (because, emphasis added) it was popular.
Unfortunately the list of fakes are (sic) becoming quite long and exposed themselves quickly.
Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA.
Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting.
We are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them.
And this one will quickly engulf the Middle East, BRICS, and NATO as countries are required to take a side.
Real America First/MAGA wants world peace for all people and doesn’t want our military killed and forever injured physically and mentally.
We love our U.S. military and love them helping to secure our borders and our cities for the defense of OUR PEOPLE AND OUR COUNTRY.
They are our friends, spouses, cousins, nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters.
We have spent TRILLIONS in the Middle East and we have dealt with the aftermath of death, blown apart bodies, never ending suicides, and disabling PTSD.
All because they told us propaganda as to why we must sacrifice our own to defend some other country’s borders and some other country’s borders.
I don’t want to see Israel bombed or Iran bombed or Gaza bombed.
I don’t want to see Ukraine bombed or Russia bombed.
And we do NOT want to be involved or required to pay for ANY OF IT!!!
We are $36+ TRILLION in debt and have mountains of our own problems.
We have giant planks sticking out of our own eyes while we complain about splinters in other’s eyes.
Every country involved and all over the world can be happy, successful, and rich if we all work together and seek peace and prosperity.
Taking this position is NOT antisemitic.
It’s rational, sane, and loving toward all people.
Taking this position of peace and prosperity for all is not isolationism, it leads to GREAT trade deals and GREAT economies that help ALL PEOPLE.
It’s what many Americans voted for in 2024.
America First!
America First!!
America First!!!
That is how we Make America Great Again!!!!!
Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, a Trump sycophant, said Trump can “thread the needle” between Israel and Iran.
Meanwhile, Laura Loomer, a Trump acolyte journalist, promised to name names of MAGA who prove unfaithful to Trump over Israel-Iran. She went after Owens late Wednesday. Loomer also wrote on X:
‘I am screenshotting everyone’s posts and I’m going to deliver them in a package to President Trump so he sees who is truly with him and who isn’t. I think by now everyone know I mean it when I say I’m going to deliver something to Trump.’
U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., has advocated for a U.S. attack on Iran for years. Some blame congressional neocons for the drama.
Trump sought to be a peacemaker with a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. He also wanted Ukraine and Russia at the negotiating table to stop the killing.
Peacemaking is a legitimate motive. The Beatitudes in the Sermon of the Mount in Matthew 5 calls Christ followers to be peacemakers.
However, human beings are born into sin and there are bad actors in the world. Do moral and ethical people ignore regimes that exploit, imprison, or murder their own citizens and others?
Iran has been an enemy of the U.S. since the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies chronicled Iran’s attacks against Americans, with thousands killed and injured for nearly five decades. Iran is one of the most oppressive nations on earth against its citizens with political prisoners, torture, killings, and persecution of all religious minorities. Open Doors U.S. identified Iran ninth worldwide for its persecution of Christians in its 2025 World Watch List. Iran also is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. All of that precedes a nuclear Iran.
Americans don’t have a stomach for permanent wars, but do we really want to give a pass to a nation that has killed Americans and thousands of their own citizens with such impunity?
Trump gave his answer Saturday evening.
The MAGA faithful and other Americans would be wise to answer it too.
