Peloni: In the following article Lee Smith provides a an important telling of Tucker Carlson’s continued attempts to undermine Trump’s midterm hopes from within, damaging the GOP’s credibility while still continuing to maintain close ties with its leadership, something which I have recently noted is Carlson’s being able to do what Obama can not. As Smith explains, Carlson’s recently staged media stunt in the form of his interview with U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee falsely claimed that Israeli authorities detained and harassed him and his team. It was an attempt to portray himself as the victim of harassment by a U.S. ally. Airport and embassy officials denied the account, while also providing footage showing Carlson posing with airport staff, thus contradicting his narrative of events. Smith explains that the motivation behind this was to cast the U.S.–Israel relationship as being hostile to Americans and to simultaneously embarrass the Amb. Huckabee, and, by extension, President Donald Trump as well.
Smith explains that this media manipulation is part of Carlson’s broader political project which is aimed at portraying Israel and “neoconservatives” as malign influences on U.S. foreign policy, and to therefore advocate for a radical shift in how the United States engages globally. Since leaving Fox News in 2023, Carlson has used his platform to challenge long-standing GOP foreign policy orthodoxies, but particularly U.S. support for Israel. Smith goes on to relate that Carlson’s rhetoric mirrors the tactics used by anti-Israel activists during their boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign, and this effectively positions him as a force pushing the GOP away from its long standing traditional foreign policy views.
A major theme is Carlson’s embrace of conspiracy theories, especially those which are focused around antisemitic themes. For example, Smith highlights Carlson’s promotion of an unsubstantiated claim that Jeffrey Epstein operated as part of a Mossad blackmail operation targeting American elites — a belief Carlson challenges as being suppressed by Trump administration officials such as Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. By portraying the lack of evidence to support such a cover-up, Carlson further weaves a narrative which implicates Trump himself as shielding Israeli crimes and transgressions. Smith challenges that this tactic in fact actually signals Carlson’s own worldview while also exploiting a broader mistrust of US institutions and foreign allies.
Despite this adversarial posture against Trump, which includes both attacks on evangelicals for their solid support of Israel as well as repeated criticism of the Republican Party, Trump has continued to embrace Carlson’s influence as if they were aligned in their outlook, all while ignoring the transparency of what is taking shape. Smith further notes that Trump recently invited Carlson to lunch at the White House on two consecutive Fridays, signaling to US voters that Carlson remains an important figure within the GOP. Smith argues that this sends a dangerous message as it demonstrates that the party is legitimizing a figure he which describes as a “pathological liar” and whose narratives are having real political consequences in the US body politic. . Smith quotes Vice President J.D. Vance among others who advice suggesting that Republicans should focus on dinner table topics such as the economy rather than engaging in intra-party ideological controversies.
Smith warns that including Carlson into the “Republican big tent”, as it were, risks corroding the party’s credibility with mainstream voters while further amplifying his conspiratorial and divisive rhetoric. In doing so, Trump’s continued inclusion of Carlson in his inner circle not only threatens a consistent message which can resonate throughout his base, he also hands a significant political advantage to Democrats as the crucial midterm elections are approaching. As Smith explains, only Trump himself has the authority and position to prevent Carlson and similar influencers from continuing to destabilize the GOP which is undermining its chances in coming elections.
By Lee Smith | Tablet Magazine | Feb 20, 2026
Click on Link Below to Read Article
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/arsonist-big-tent-trump-tucker-carlson
Either Trump has a plan to sort all this out or he’s scheduled to lose both houses in the coming elections. The way things stand right now is that the Epstein story is being hidden from everybody because too many republicans rather than democrats stand to lose face when the facts are brought to light. The way things stand right now is that the democrats won fair elections since Adam and Eve and they will continue to do so due to lack of appropriate action from Pam Bondi and Kash Patel.
Whatever the case, allowing [FT]ucker Qatarlson to continue along the same lines as in the past 3 years does not bode well for the next elections. It will leave Trump with the Executive Order strategy that will always be shot down by partial judges across the spectrum, regardless of the truth of the matter. He cannot depend on the voters to save the day without solving at least some of these problems. Right now, the public has gotten used to cheap gas, food and medicines and have long forgotten the bad old times of just over a year ago where those wares were much more expensive.
So, if he does have a plan, we need an inkling of it before it’s too late, because the regular Joe in his armchair in front of his TV is currently being indoctrinated by the media to the hilt. Not only that; the media around the world is doing the same thing, probably at the behest of the WEF. When I compare the news on TV to news from other more dependable sources, the bias is obvious and the results are exactly what you would expect.
Just to round this up, if Trump does lose both houses in the upcoming elections, the USA is done for. Regardless of whoever takes up the baton, the result is inevitable.
Dov Hikind on X:
https://x.com/search?q=tucker%20carlson&src=typed_query