President Donald Trump lashed out at MAGA media figures who have criticized him in recent days over the Iran war, declaring that MAGA as a whole is on his side and accusing the conservative influencers of trying to get “cheap publicity.”
The president took aim at Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, all of whom raised concerns about the president’s recent threats against Iran.
“They’re not ‘MAGA,’ they’re losers, just trying to latch on to MAGA,” Trump said in an April 9 social media post.
Prior to the ceasefire, Trump issued a stark warning to Iran as he sought to pressure the regime in Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, writing April 7 on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” That prompted Owens and Jones to suggest invoking the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove Trump from the presidency.
“The definition of genocide is destroying an entire civilization/people!” Jones said on social media. “Trump literally sounds like an unhinged super villain from a Marvel comic movie. This IS NOT WHAT WE VOTED FOR!!!”
Kelly, a former FOX News host, said on her show that she is “sick of this (expletive)” from Trump, asking: “Can’t he just behave like a normal human?”
“You don’t threaten to wipe out an entire civilization,” Kelly said. “We’re talking about civilians.”
Carlson responded to an earlier Trump post from April 5 that threatened to destroy Iranian bridges and power plants, calling it “vile” on “every level.”
“It begins with a promise to use the U.S. military, our military, to destroy civilian infrastructure in another country,” Carlson, a former FOX News host, said April 6 on “The Tucker Carlson Show.” “Which is to say to commit a war crime, a moral crime, against the people of the country.”
Trump lobbed a series of insults at Carlson, Kelly, Jones and Owens, who all have large followings online. He called them dumb, irrelevant and publicity hungry in his April 9 social media post, and said they don’t represent MAGA.
“Nobody’s talking about them, and their views are the opposite of MAGA — Or I wouldn’t have won the Presidential Election in a LANDSLIDE,” Trump wrote, adding: “MAGA agrees with me.”
Owens responded, “It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home.”
The Iran war has prompted strong pushback from some prominent Trump-aligned media figures, with the president’s dramatic recent threats against Tehran intensifying the debate on the right. Trump ran for president as a critic of past Middle East conflicts, and his non-interventionist approach became central to the MAGA movement. Podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump, said the Iran war has people feeling “betrayed” by a president who “ran on no more wars.”
Polls show most Republicans approve of how Trump is handling the Iran conflict, though. A CNN survey released last week found that while just 33% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, 73% of Republicans approve.
Trump and Iran’s leadership announced a ceasefire April 7. Negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials are scheduled to take place in Pakistan over a permanent settlement to end the war.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Losers.’ Trump jabs MAGA media figures critical of his Iran threats
Reporting by Zac Anderson, with contributions from Francesca Chambers, USA TODAY / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
