MTG pushes Tucker 2028
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Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) suggested Tucker Carlson should run for president after President Trump told ABC News that Carlson had "lost his way."
Why it matters: Carlson is one of the right's most-influential voices and he will remain so as long as influential figures like Greene want to see him in the White House.
- Carlson has said no to a presidential bid in the past, and the highly likely scenario is that he backs Vice President JD Vance's expected campaign to succeed Trump in 2028.
Catch up quick: "Tucker has lost his way," Trump told ABC New's Jonathan Karl in a phone interview. "I knew that a long time ago, and 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."
- Carlson responded to Status founder Oliver Darcy: "There are times I get annoyed with Trump, right now definitely included ... but I'll always love him no matter what he says about me."
Driving the news: Greene floated a Carlson 2028 bid while coming to his defense over his opposition to the Iran war, which he called "absolutely disgusting and evil."
- "I SUPPORT TUCKER. Trump doesn't even know what MAGA is anymore and turned it into MIGA," Greene posted on X.
- "Trump is not America First, he's donor first. Tucker would beat Trump if he ran for President and Trump tried to violate the constitution and tried to run again for a third term."
Zoom out: Carlson's and Greene's criticisms of Trump break on the fault line of Israel, echoed by fellow media figures like Steve Bannon and and Megyn Kelly.
- MAGA's Jewish influencers, like Laura Loomer and Mark Levin, have branded those critics antisemitic.
Reality check: Though it's tempting to see a MAGA civil war over Israel and the war in Iran, it's largely unfolding in the elite podcaster and influencer space.
- Public and private polling show a super-majority of Republicans still support Israel and support Trump's war, unlike independents and Democrats.
The bottom line: Trump has repeatedly said that "MAGA is me." And the polling indicates he's right.
Go deeper: Rubio's war remarks blow open MAGA's Israel divide
