Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is positioning for a 2028 run by emphasizing his pro-interventionist stance and attacking Tucker Carlson’s isolationist views, including accusations of antisemitism, according to a new Axios report.
This puts Cruz on a collision course with Vice President Vance, a Carlson ally and potential 2028 GOP frontrunner. The senator is also wading into disputes fracturing President Trump’s MAGA movement, particularly ideological rifts over Israel.
“We have a responsibility to speak out even when it’s uncomfortable,” Cruz said in a statement to Axios. “When voices in our own movement push dangerous and misguided ideas, we can’t look the other way. I won’t hesitate to call out those who peddle destructive, vile rhetoric and threaten our principles and our future. Silence in the face of recklessness is not an option.”
Carlson laughed off Cruz and his statement in a text message to Axios, calling it “hilarious.”
“Good luck,” Carlson said. “That’s my comment and heartfelt view.”
Cruz has relentlessly attacked Carlson in recent weeks—on social media, in donor speeches, and elsewhere—rebuking him for opposing Trump’s strike on Iran, criticizing Israel’s Gaza campaign, and opposing U.S. aid to Ukraine.
“On foreign policy, Tucker has gone bat-crap crazy,” Cruz said afterward. “He’s gone off the rails.”
In recent weeks, Cruz has accused Carlson of antisemitism, blasting his friendly interview with white nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. At the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in late October, he called Carlson a “coward” and “complicit in evil.” At last week’s Federalist Society convention, he said Carlson had “spread a profoundly dangerous poison” by hosting Fuentes, whom Cruz labeled “a little goose-stepping Nazi.”
Cruz plans to address the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly later this week. Top Republicans say his clash with Carlson is winning over pro-Israel donors angered by Carlson’s Fuentes interview and concerned about the GOP’s drift toward isolationism.
Some of Cruz’s critiques have been echoed by The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, who slammed Carlson this month over the Fuentes interview, accusing him of sanitizing abhorrent views conservatives should reject.
