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By Adeola Adeosun
Weekend Night Editor
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Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson publicly rebuked President Donald Trump on Monday over a profanity-laced Easter Sunday post on Truth Social threatening Iran—with the conservative podcast host taking particular aim at Trump's mockery of Islam and what he called the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure.
Newsweek reached out the White House via email on Monday for comment.
Why It Matters
Trump's post arrives more than a month into the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran, a conflict that has widened significantly since strikes began on February 28. Civilian death tolls continue to rise across the region, and global oil prices have soared, creating economic and political pressure for Trump at home as Americans face rising gas prices.
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The blowback from Carlson—once among Trump's most prominent allies—carries particular weight. Trump publicly removed Carlson from the MAGA movement in March over his opposition to the Iran war. "Tucker has lost his way," the president told ABC News. "He's not MAGA."
Carlson's criticism of Trump has extended beyond Iran; at a Turning Point USA conference in December, he questioned whether U.S. financial support for Israel was consistent with an "America First" agenda. "Is it 'America First' to take money from a foreign lobby so you'll send taxpayer dollars to that country?" he said. "Even the question kind of answers itself."
What To Know
Trump's Easter post on Truth Social read: "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*****' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP."
The post and backlash to it partly overshadowed the widely hailed Saturday rescue of a missing U.S. airman in Iran and the reaction to that earlier on Sunday. Trump's profanity-laced message drew some calls to enact the 25th Amendment.
When asked Monday morning why he used such vulgar language, Trump defended the post: "Only to make my point. I think you've heard it before."
On Monday's episode of The Tucker Carlson Show podcast, the host took direct aim at both the profanity and "Praise be to Allah" remark. "Who do you think you are? You're tweeting out the f-word on Easter morning? So, obviously you're mocking the religion of Iran. OK. If you seek a religious war, that's a good idea. But by the way, no decent person mocks other people's religions," Carlson said.
The host added that mocking another person's faith strikes at something deeper. "To mock other people's faith is to mock the idea of faith itself. ... The message of all faith at the biggest-picture level is the message in our Bible, which is you are not God. And only if you think you are, do you talk this way."
Carlson also pushed back on the broader operations of the war. "We've intentionally bombed civilian infrastructure. That's totally unacceptable. Not under the phony laws of some international body but under moral law, God's law. Killing noncombatants who did nothing wrong, who are people created by God, is immoral."
Iranian authorities reported at least 29 people were killed across the country by airstrikes Monday. About 1,900 have been killed in Iran since the war began, with the government not updating the toll for several days.
In March, Carlson said there are times he gets "annoyed with Trump" and that the Iran war is "definitely included"—but added: "I'll always love him no matter what he says about me."
What People Are Saying
Carlson, also during his podcast: "But it’s not just mockery of Islam. And no president should mock Islam. That’s not your job. This is not a theocracy. We don’t go to war with other theocracies to find out which theocracy is more effective. We are not a theocracy. And God willing, we never will be, because theocracies corrupt the religion."
Greg Kelly, Newsmax host, via X: "Everyone so 'Horrified' at President TRUMP and his language. GIVE ME A BREAK. This is the way people TALK. Get Over it. It’s barely lunch Time and I’ve heard the F word on the streets of NYC a dozen times. TRUMP is Keeping it Real—-WE ARE GOING TO WIN!"
Tommy Vietor, Pod Save America host, via X: "Latest Tucker Carlson episode goes after Trump in far more personal and harsh terms than I’ve heard before. He wonders if Trump didn’t put his hand on the bible at his inauguration because he “affirmatively rejects what’s inside that book” and said Trump’s Easter tweet was “vile."
Senator Patty Murray, Washington Democrat, on X: "This is a deeply unwell man on a dangerous power trip, threatening possible war crimes. This is not how the President of the United States should be speaking about sending our servicemembers into harm’s way. Republicans should join Democrats to end this war immediately."
Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, also on X: "On Easter morning, this is what President Trump posted. Everyone in his administration that claims to be a Christian needs to fall on their knees and beg forgiveness from God and stop worshipping the President and intervene in Trump’s madness."
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What Happens Next
Trump has increasingly framed the Iran war's potential end around domestic opinion rather than battlefield outcomes. When asked Monday whether he would keep Iranian oil if given the choice, he said he would—but acknowledged public pressure to bring troops home. "I want to keep the people of our country happy," he said.
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