Tucker Carlson clashes with Ted Cruz in fiery showdown over who ‘loves’ Trump more

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: An interview between Tucker Carlson and Senator Ted Cruz about Israel's military campaign against Iran descended into chaos after they locked horns over the question: ‘Who loves Trump more?’

The back-and-forth between the two started with the conservative host attacking the 54-year-old Senator’s support for the Israeli army's bombardment of Iranian targets.

According to CBS News, the Trump administration has claimed that the US is not involved in the offensive, but it has assisted Israel in fending off Iranian counterattacks, with the president considering attacking Iranian nuclear targets.

The 56-year-old host, who has been very vocal against military action, ripped into Cruz for stating that he wanted to overthrow the Iranian government and questioned his reason for going to war with Iran.

Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz lock horns over who loves Trump more

After giving not-so-flattering responses to Israel's attack, Ted Cruz accused Carlson of spewing "reckless rhetoric" by rejecting the US’s potential intervention.

When Carlson rejected a push for regime change in Iran, Cruz tried to draw attention to Carlson's recent feud with Trump over the possibility of involvement.

“You put out a newsletter attacking Donald Trump and calling him complicit! You put out a whole newsletter saying Trump has abandoned America first,” Cruz attacked, according to Daily Beast.

The senator was referencing Carlson's newsletter, which said that "politicians purporting to be America First can't now credibly turn around and say they had nothing to do with" Israel's war on Iran after years of US support for Israel.

The Conservative firebrand dismissed the comments and veered off the conversation to how he went all out to campaign for Trump during last year’s presidential election.

“I like Trump, I campaigned for Trump, I know Trump. I talked to him last night. I’m not against Trump, and you know that. I think that we should be very careful about entering into more foreign wars that don’t help us when our country is dying,” he said.

He further stated that “after antisemitism, this is the last refuge, ‘You’re an antisemite and you hate Trump!’ I love Trump!”

Then, Cruz continued to use Carlson's rejection of US intervention in escalating tension as a yardstick for Trump support - a frequent strategy that has stoked a civil war among MAGA supporters as Trump mulls using force.

“Your foreign policy is the foreign policy of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, and it doesn’t work,” Cruz said. To which Carlson replied, “Yeah, I’m a big leftist. This is so silly. Now I’m Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, OK.”

Donald Trump pushes back at Tucker Carlson’s ‘America first’ criticism

At some point in their careers, both Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz have faced heat from Donald Trump. But in the most recent case, the president bashed Carlson over his suggestion that he is straying from "America First" ideals by supporting Israel’s strikes on Iran.

During an interview with The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer, the commander-in-chief was asked about the former Fox Host’s newsletter, where he appeared to criticize his public stance.

Trump fiercely pushed back on criticism, saying, "Well, considering that I’m the one that developed ‘America First,’ and considering that the term wasn’t used until I came along, I think I’m the one that decides that.”

"For those people who say they want peace, you can’t have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So for all of those wonderful people who don’t want to do anything about Iran having a nuclear weapon — that’s not peace," the 79-year-old insisted.

The president later added that “Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb, very simple. Regardless — Israel or not Israel — Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb.”