Tucker Carlson, or ‘Qatarlson’ as he is known in certain circles, released on March 4 a full one hour and 37 minutes of frontal delivery. The show was listed as “War Update: Israel’s True Motives, Potential False Flags, and Oncoming Global Crisis” and contained some rather unique commentary. It also revealed an accelerated downward spin by Carlson into dark conspiracy thinking and continues his anti-Israel crusade.
Of course, this type of thinking has become de rigueur on America’s nationalist Right – the mystifying of politics. Meanwhile, Candace Owens is dredging up the Khazarian myth of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. On her Twitter/X account, she also posted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11.”
In another post, she wrote, “False flags are the Israeli way… Bibi wants a third world war so they can hit a global reset.” Even the Heritage Institute hosted John Daniel Davidson, who, on March 3, published a piece entitled “How Israel ‘Chain-Ganged’ the Trump Administration into war against Iran,” on its website.
Davidson tried to convince his readers that “Israel appears to have succeeded in such entrapment, forcing the Trump administration into a war not necessarily of its choosing or timing.” He seems to have rushed his piece prior to the clarifications of Secretary of State Marc Rubio.
Megyn Kelly declared that the US service members who were killed by the Iranian drone “died for Iran or for Israel. This is clearly Israel’s war.” She added, “Our government’s job is not to look out for Iran or Israel.”
Carlson stepped off the cliff into irrationality by claiming that the conflict with Iran possesses a “religious layer,” but not the one that any normal commentator would think. Not the Ayatollah regime. Not the Shi’ite version of Islam. Not Hamas’s Al-Aqsa campaign. Not the Hezbollah copycat Ayatollah dictatorship. No, Carlson has another target.
First, characterizing Senator Lindsey Graham as having “bloodshot eyes” and a “puffy face,” he quotes Graham as saying, “This is a religious war.” He then, coyly, adds, “Is he trying to ferment a religious war? Probably. He’s an ‘end times’ kind of guy.”
Carlson will not have us think that Iran’s regime masters are interested in a religious war or ‘end times,’ since he avoids discussing the matter. On the other hand, as Ariel University Prof. Ronen A. Cohen has explained, Iran’s adoption of Shi’ite Islam in the 16th century created a state religious framework that sees itself as the authentic manifestation of Islam on Earth.
This concept of earthly governance under the authority of God’s representatives also led to an ambition for Islamic expansion across the Middle East and, ultimately, the globe. It is perceived as the preparation for the reemergence of the Missing Imam’s arrival, the Mahdi. That should be bothering Carlson.
Carlson’s Temple Mount obsession
Yet Carlson ignores Shi’ite Islam and zeros in on Jerusalem, “The holiest spot on earth…called the foundation stone.” It is holy, he elucidates, because “in the Torah, it says that Jews can only publicly worship God [!] and sacrifice on that spot in that city.” Without that building, “you can’t really have Torah Judaism,” he adds.
lll that is mumbled and jumbled, disoriented claptrap.
Carlson then puts his puzzle pieces together. He informs that “right now, like this week, is the moment that some people – not a huge number – most people…would like to begin the process of tearing down the Dome of the Rock, tearing down Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuilding the Third Temple.”
He even dredges up something that the now Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said in 2018 to an Arutz 7 interviewer, when, talking about the miracles of Israel’s rebirth, he declared that “there’s no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not possible.”
Well, talking about miracles, could Carlson ever return to sanity?
For Carlson, though, a nuclear Iran is irrelevant in this crisis. An Iran promoting terror across the globe can be denied. Iran directing assassination operations against President Donald Trump or opponents of the regime is to be ignored. Iran subverting Sunni Islamic states should be pushed away from any attention.
Carlson wants his audience to pay attention rather to Velcro patches on IDF uniforms (a uniform paid for by the United States, he says), patches that were banned by the IDF. What is really important – he wants his audience to know – is a soldier saying that the war in Gaza was for rebuilding the Third Temple, a rebuilding “that is totally anathema to Christianity.” What is central to his theory is – wait for it – Chabad.
Chabad Hassidim have “been pushing in a pretty subtle way…for the reconstruction of the Third Temple. And it seems like from the reading we did recently that those patches actually came from Chabad.”
If you, the readers, are concerned, I can assure you that these patches have not come from Chabad, although one of their flags does portray the Temple.
On the other hand, I will admit that millions of Jews over the ages have prayed and continue to pray that the Temple will be rebuilt speedily. This, however, is not official Israeli government policy, which doesn’t even permit Jewish prayer at the sacred compound. It is an appeal to God.
Carlson goes on and on with his conspiracy presentation. Unfortunately, like Alice before him, he goes “down, down, down,” and we are left wondering what latitude or longitude he’s gotten to. Whether he’ll end with a “Thump! Thump!” or worse is anyone’s guess.
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.