Latest news with #Breitbart
Metro
6 days ago
- Business
- Metro
Expert says Trump and Musk's relationship was doomed from the very start
It's no shock the 'short-lived romance' between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has come to a crashing end, according to an expert on US politics – it was all a question of ego. The US President and the world's richest man formally brought their working relationship to a close last month in an Oval Office press conference. There did not appear to be any animosity between the pair at the time, with Trump thanking Musk for 'tirelessly helping lead the most sweeping and consequential government reform programme in generations'. But things have gone sour rather quickly. Yesterday afternoon, the South African billionaire described Trump's flagship Congressional spending bill as a 'disgusting abomination'. Angelia Wilson, Professor of Politics at the University of Manchester, said this moment was predictable from the moment Musk joined the Republican's presidential campaign last year. She said: 'I hope most of the world could see that those two rather significant egos were not going to stay best buddies for long.' Professor Wilson argues Musk stepped in to fill a role played by Steve Bannon, the founder of alt-right news website Breitbart, during Trump's first campaign and administration. Bannon served as the White House Chief Strategist following the inauguration but had a similarly truncated tenure, leaving just seven months in the job. Both he and Musk played the part of a 'best friend', Professor Wilson said, offering 'some direction of something new and different and interesting'. She said: 'Look at the cycle of American politics, and look at the cycle of the previous Trump administration. 'We had Bannon, and they came in and did this, 'we're going to get rid of half the government', 'we're going to shrink the size of the government', and then realised that they're not walking into a palace. 'He's not a king, and there is eventually going to be some pushback about that. And those type of men with large egos are going to struggle if they're in it for their own ego and not in it for the country.' After announcing his backing for Trump shortly after the then-candidate survived an assassination attempt, Musk became comfortably the biggest single political donor in last year's election. He gave a total of $288 million (around £210m) to support the Republican presidential nominee and other party figures down the ballot. When Trump entered the White House to begin his second term, he appointed Musk to head up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) and handed him an enormous amount of power. So far, Doge has not saved anywhere near the amount of money Musk said it would – but it has fired tens of thousands of government workers and effectively shut down major bodies such as aid agency USAID. Professor Wilson, author of a book on Trump's rise titled The Politics of Hate, argues that despite Musk's description of himself as 'first buddy', the two men probably never really liked each other much. 'I think when you're talking about two significant figures like that, or any significant figures that have such large egos and are in politics, I wouldn't throw around the word 'like',' she said. 'I don't know what their basis of their friendship was, but I don't think it was even to the extent of a Facebook friendship, that they weren't, in that sense, emotionally close. It was, if anything, a partnership of convenience.' But if it was a partnership of convenience, it seems to have been an extremely lucrative one. More Trending While Trump got 'a bro that would help him get elected with something new and shiny', Professor Wilson said, Musk got to cut regulations and gained access to 'the data that he needs or that he wanted' from government files. That may be a reason why – despite the Tesla boss's fury over the spending bill – neither Trump nor his administration have fired back with vicious insults, as they have in the past when criticised. Professor Wilson predicted: 'I don't think Musk is going to be an enemy of the White House.' Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Women who have a miscarriage in West Virginia could be prosecuted MORE: Urgent health alert for ham croquettes in the US over allergy fears MORE: Three missing sisters found dead after going to visit dad as manhunt for him is underway
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump criticizes Rand Paul over tax bill opposition: 'Votes no on everything'
President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for opposing his "big, beautiful bill." "Rand Paul has very little understanding of the BBB, especially the tremendous GROWTH that is coming. He loves voting 'NO' on everything, he thinks it's good politics, but it's not. The BBB is a big WINNER!!!" Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. The president added, "Rand votes NO on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a BIG GROWTH BILL!" Paul is among a group of at least four Republican senators who have expressed apprehension over Trump's "big, beautiful bill" due to the budget package's projected increase in the national debt. Still A No: Rand Paul Says $5T Debt Increase In 'Big, Beautiful Bill' A Deal-breaker The White House has framed the bill as a solution to four years of failures under former President Joe Biden. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida, and Mike Lee of Utah, three other Republicans in the upper chamber, have also shared concerns about the bill's fiscal implications. Read On The Fox News App Paul told Breitbart News on Monday that while he believes the left is "adrift," most Republicans are shying away from intra-party debates on certain issues, similarly to how Democrats acted after former President Barack Obama's re-election win. Paul reportedly said he supports "a lot" of Trump's budget package but disagrees with "the additional $5 trillion in debt" the senator claims is attached to the bill. "That's a hard place for me as I support much of what's in the bill, tax cuts, spending cuts, plus more spending cuts if we can get them. But I can't reconcile myself to adding $5 trillion in debt, raising the debt ceiling," Paul said. The senator told Breitbart the debt is going to be $2.2 trillion this year and Republicans have largely continued Biden-era spending levels. "They're anticipating $5 trillion in two years, and that means next year's deficit that some people are saying it's going to grow to over $3 trillion a year again," Paul said. The senator separately expressed to the Associated Press that he told Trump this would be the first time in recent history that Republicans would "own" the debt ceiling if an increase of the nation's debt limit was included in the GOP's sweeping tax and spending package. Paul reportedly added in the Breitbart interview that his opposition to portions of the "big, beautiful bill" are meant to preserve the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)'s progress down the road. Rand Paul Says He Would Support 'Big, Beautiful Bill' If Debt Ceiling Hike Removed "My fear is that when this bill passes that the ramifications a year out, two years out, will be, 'My goodness, what happened to DOGE? What happened to the spending cuts? Why is the deficit so big still?'" he said. "So I am working very hard to make sure there is still at least a part of the party — and it doesn't have to be anti-Donald Trump because I'm for him in so many ways — but it also means people still have to stand up and present their own ideas of what they're for." "I do support President Trump and I support most of the bill," Rand also wrote on X, explaining his position. "I'm his biggest defender on foreign policy. But at the same time I want conservative government so I have to fight for what I believe in." Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, met at the White House at a critical moment Monday as senators returned to begin negotiations over the president's big tax breaks and spending cuts package. Thune said that GOP senators are "on track" to have the package approved by their July 4 deadline. But Thune also acknowledged the long road ahead as senators grind through private talks over changes to put their own stamp on the House-passed bill. Thune told the Senate floor on Monday that Republicans' priority is "extending tax relief for hardworking Americans and strengthening our border, energy, and national security." Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., meanwhile, says Trump told him in a call he "wants to make sure" the Senate doesn't cut Medicaid benefits, according to the AP. The Missouri Republican has been working to strip steep healthcare cuts from the House bill, beyond work requirements for some aid recipients. Hawley said Trump told him the senators could instead raise revenue by closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole used by wealthy filers. The Associated Press contributed to this article source: Trump criticizes Rand Paul over tax bill opposition: 'Votes no on everything'
Politico
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Avoiding a JCPOA revival
Presented by With help from Nahal Toosi, Giselle Ewing and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric If there's a new Iran deal on the table, Republicans are really hoping it's not the same as the old Iran deal. President DONALD TRUMP's administration said it has handed Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal in part of its monthslong bid to negotiate on Tehran dismantling its nuclear program. Iran's foreign minister, ABBAS ARAGHCHI, said it hasn't received any written proposal yet and called the Trump administration's stances 'confusing and contradictory.' The pressure is building for Trump's team to demonstrate that its deal won't reprise the Obama-era nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, that Republicans widely panned. Publicly, top Trump officials, including his special envoy STEVE WITKOFF, say they won't sign onto any agreement that would allow Iran to enrich uranium. But privately, Trump's team is looking to make a deal and is flexible on the question of whether Tehran could enrich at low levels, according to two European officials and a former Trump administration official, all granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic discussions. 'Trump has been led to believe that low level enrichment isn't a threat – this is the compromise JOHN KERRY made in the JCPOA,' the former Trump administration official said, referring to Obama's former secretary of State who helped negotiate the JCPOA. Asked about the Trump team's position on enrichment, a Witkoff spokesperson pointed to his remarks last week in an interview with Breitbart, where he definitively said no. When leaving the deal in 2018, Trump criticized the accord for allowing 'Iran to continue enriching uranium and, over time, reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.' Every Republican senator except Sen. RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) sent a letter to Trump this week urging him not to back an agreement that allows any uranium enrichment. MARK DUBOWITZ, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a fierce critic of Iran's regime, told NatSec Daily that Iran will want to preserve its enrichment capabilities in any deal, which could scuttle the negotiations or leave Trump to sell a deal to a Republicans who have indicated they oppose it. Iran, for its part, has said it will agree to something close to the JCPOA, under which Iran agreed to strict nuclear curbs that expired over time in exchange for sanctions relief. ALI SHAMKHANI, a top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah ALI KHAMENEI, told NBC this week that Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, eliminating stockpiles of highly enriched uranium, enriching uranium only to lower levels needed for civilian use and allowing international inspectors to supervise it in exchange for the lifting of all sanctions on Iran. In addition to enrichment, another key Republican criticism of the Obama-era deal was that it did not cover non-nuclear issues with Iran, such as its missile program. 'It has to at least focus on the missiles too, … and I haven't heard anyone who wants to talk about that,' the former Trump official said. The Inbox FACE TO FACE: After months of impasse on peace talks, Trump is saying it's time for him to meet with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN. 'I think it's time for us to just do it,' he told reporters as he wrapped up his trip to the Middle East today. 'We've got to get it done,' he said of talks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, which has been raging for three years since Russia first launched its unprovoked, full-scale invasion in 2022. When asked when he would meet with Putin, Trump said: 'As soon as we can set it up.' Trump's comments came after Ukrainian and Russian officials met for talks in Turkey this week. Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY had challenged Putin to show up in Turkey for talks and said he'd meet with him if he did. Putin didn't show up, instead sending lower-level technocrats. Those talks — the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in three years — didn't yield any major breakthroughs. But both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners, as our colleague Veronika Melkozerova reports from Kyiv. SPENDING PRESSURES: As the Trump administration pushes NATO allies to boost defense spending to 5 percent ahead of a major alliance summit this summer, Canada could find itself in the MAGA crosshairs… again. Canada, already grappling with less-than-stellar relations with Trump, is one of eight allies that lags behind on the current NATO benchmark of spending 2 percent on defense. (It's at 1.37 percent, though the Canadian government has outlined plans to hit that target by 2030.) The United States spends around 3.4 percent of its GDP on defense. Under a new proposal from NATO, allies would be asked to spend 3.5 percent of GDP on defense and 1.5 percent on other security-related priorities. In an interview with our colleague Mike Blanchfield, Trump's new Ambassador to Canada PETE HOEKSTRA said Canada could be in a 'good spot' if it can get to 2 percent before 2030. Canadian Prime Minister MARK CARNEY is 'in a better position, but he is going to have to recognize that on June 30, NATO and [Secretary of State MARCO] RUBIO and the president may come back to him and say, 'Oh, well, it'll happen before that.'' PROMOTIONS BLOWBACK: Rank-and-file diplomats are up in arms over proposed plans by the Trump administration to shake up how promotion processes work this week, according to internal documents and interviews with five current and former senior U.S. diplomats who spoke to your lead NatSec Daily author and our own Nahal Toosi. Internal promotion processes are wonky, but diplomats say they are an important institutional part of promoting career diplomats, including ambassadors who will serve at the frontlines of U.S. policies to counter China and Russia abroad. The changes include installing a 'jury duty' system for people to serve on the boards instead of asking for volunteers, according to a document obtained by POLITICO. The boards also will meet virtually instead of in-person, which department officials say will save taxpayer dollars on travel for diplomats involved. The changes take effect next month. The shake-up also underscores how far Trump appointees are going to root out any semblance of diversity, equity and inclusion policies from the diplomatic corps. Some of the diplomats say this was a driving factor for LEW OLOWSKI, the top official in the Bureau of Global Talent Management, to shake up promotion boards. (As loyal NatSec Daily readers will recall, Olowski's promotion to the top HR job in the State Department angered some officials who charged he did not meet the qualifications for the post.) Some officials sharply disputed that the promotion boards were affected by DEI policies. When approached for comment, the State Department said in a statement that it is adjusting the Foreign Service Selection Boards processes to 'reduce costs and increase the integrity of the process.' DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we're featuring BRAD BOWMAN, senior director at the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. Teetotalers rejoice: Bowman, a U.S. Army veteran who served as a senior staffer on military and national security policy to Republican senators, is a paragon of healthy living if we're judging him by his drink choice. 'If you are looking for an exotic cocktail, you came to the wrong guy,' Brad said. (To the contrary Brad, we love hearing about drinks of choice from all natsec wonks, regardless of whether they fall on a cocktail menu or not.) Brad's pick: 'I typically go for a ginormous glass of cold 1 percent lactose-free milk,' he said. What better way to build strong bones? And if not that? 'If I am feeling really saucy, need a break from troubling headlines, or celebrating something with the family, I go for a Martinelli's Sparkling Cider on the rocks,' he said. 'Très chic, I know.' Well, Brad, chic is in the eye of the beholder. So cheers to you! IT'S FRIDAY! WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@ and ebazail@ and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you're at it, follow the rest of POLITICO's global security team: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @ak_mack, @felschwartz, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130 and @delizanickel Keystrokes PULLING PUNCHES: U.S. Cyber Command paused offensive operations aimed at Russia for one day this year as a negotiating tactic, House Armed Services cyber subcommittee Chair DON BACON (R-Neb.) said today. As our own Maggie Miller reports (for Pros!), during a subcommittee hearing on the Pentagon's cyber posture, Bacon confirmed reports in late February that Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH directed Cyber Command to stand down from planning on all matters regarding Russia, including offensive actions. This is significant because the Pentagon denied those reports at the time. The report sparked confusion and fury among Democratic lawmakers and European leaders, who viewed the move as a capitulation toward Russia during a time of tense negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. The Pentagon at the time denied that any stand-down order was made. 'I dug into this whole matter,' Bacon said. 'There was a one-day pause, which is typical for negotiations, that's about as much as I can say, a one-day pause.' Spokespeople for the Pentagon and Cyber Command did not immediately respond to Maggie's requests for comment on Bacon's claim. The Complex ABOUT THOSE TUBERVILLE HOLDS: A government watchdog report has found that Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE's prolonged blockade of senior military promotions affected military families, officer pay and leadership changes — but did not affect military readiness among rank-and-file troops, as our own Joe Gould reports for Morning Defense (for Pros!). Tuberville's nearly yearlong hold — a protest of the Biden administration's abortion travel policy —ensnared 447 officers up for promotions for one- to four-star ranks and drew bipartisan condemnation. The sweeping hold was a largely unprecedented move that dragged U.S. military ranks into the domestic dispute over abortion policies. Pentagon officials argued it would hurt national security; Tuberville argued it wouldn't. The GAO report released late Thursday, which doesn't name Tuberville explicitly, found no impact on unit-level readiness citing reports in 2023 and part of 2024, offering a final coda to the bitter political battle that occupied a major chapter of the Biden-era Pentagon. 'Our analysis did not find challenges to readiness — the ability to meet missions,' the report states. Broadsides BRINK SPEAKS OUT: Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine BRIDGET BRINK is speaking out for the first time on why she resigned from her post in a scathing op-ed today for the Detroit Free Press. Brink, a career diplomat who served five U.S. Republican and Democratic presidents, rebuked Trump's pressure on Ukraine amid his negotiations to end the ongoing Russian invasion. 'I cannot stand by while a country is invaded, a democracy bombarded, and children killed with impunity,' she wrote in the op-ed. 'I believe that the only way to secure U.S. interests is to stand up for democracies and to stand against autocrats. Peace at any price is not peace at all ― it is appeasement.' 'And history has taught us time and again that appeasement does not lead to safety, security or prosperity. It leads to more war and suffering,' she added. Transitions — SOFIA CHAVEZ is joining the Center for Strategic and International Studies as media relations manager for external relations. She previously was deputy press secretary for Sen. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.). What to Read — Derek Own and R.M. Schneiderman, POLITICO: 'We've Got a F--king Spy in This Place': Inside America's Greatest Espionage Mystery — Mike Blanchfield, POLITICO: Mark Carney mixes faith and foreign affairs in Rome — Catherine Osborn, Foreign Policy Magazine: Latin American Economies Look to China as U.S. Slashes Aid Monday Today — Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: U.S.-Latvia Resilience Conference — Hudson Institute, 2 p.m.: The Rt. Hon. Sir IAIN DUNCAN SMITH MP on How the West Can Overcome the Totalitarian Axis Thanks to our editors, Heidi Vogt and Emily Lussier, who should bow to our military pressure to give up their illicit nuclear program.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Humiliation Derby
Kentucky Republicans are hoping for a high sign from President Donald Trump, photographed on stage on the eve of his second inauguration, Jan. 19, 2025 in Washington D.C. (Photo by) Let us begin with the word 'scum.' One potential GOP candidate for the soon-to-be-vacated U.S. Senate seat of Mitch McConnell is 44-year-old Nate Morris, a technology entrepreneur from Lexington. In a recent Breitbart interview, as reported by Austin Horn of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Morris recounted an interaction he said he had with a wealthy McConnell donor during the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. 'I said, 'Let me tell you something: Mitch McConnell is scum.'' In announcing his candidacy for McConnell's seat, Republican Andy Barr, 51, said, 'The woke left wants to neuter America, literally.' We can assume Barr meant figuratively, but this sort of talk can inspire real acts of violence by those who take it literally. When asked during a KET panel this week about the president's statement that he doesn't know if he needs to obey the Constitution, Kentucky's GOP communications director Andy Westberry pivoted to chastising Democrats for 'fear-mongering' and pearl-clutching. Kentucky communications professional Scott Jennings, age 47 and the most prominent GOP commentator on CNN, recently stood on stage at a rally with the president and said, 'Michigan, we were flying in here today, and I said look at these farms. I got to get a farm in Michigan, because when you own as many libs as I do, you gotta get a place to put 'em all.' Later, Jennings posted on X that he got 'caught up in the moment' with a sideways laughing emoji. Is this how grown men, professional men, speak now in the commonwealth? We hear much (and rightly so) about how American boys feel isolated and angry, that they are growing up in the age of outrage; of 24/7 cell phones and internet and social media; of the damage being done due to the lack of common decency and good role models. And yet the above are everyday examples of the kind of sneering, childish, mean-spirited, petty behavior we see regularly from grown men in power and public service. On May 10, I talked privately with a pastor about the damage social media, the tech bros (like Elon Musk) and podcast bros (like Joe Rogan and Ben Shapiro) are doing to our kids, about the ripping down of decency and civility in families and among neighbors. One reason cited for folks no longer going to church: They are so hurt and dispirited by what they see family members and neighbors post on Facebook, X and Instagram — yes, much of it about politics — that they don't want to see them in church where they will have to shake hands and smile and pretend they haven't seen what they've seen. So they just stay home. When writer Zadie Smith reviewed the 2010 movie 'The Social Network' about the founding of Facebook, she wrote, 'When a human being becomes a set of data on a Web site like Facebook, he or she is reduced. Everything shrinks. Individual character. Friendships. Language. Sensibility. … Our denuded networked selves don't look more free, they just look more owned.' Just once, I would like to write about Kentucky politics without mentioning the current president at all, as I find him boringly repetitive. This is impossible. Not because I am obsessed with him but because GOP politicians and political operatives in our state are tripping over each other to win his approval and endorsement as though his gaze is all that matters. To quote Smith, they just look more owned. GOP candidates do not use their TV appearances and social media to present policy ideas; they post and preen with the singular, embarrassingly desperate hope that the president will notice them frantically waving from the back of the room — Pick me! Pick me! — and make them the winner they think they can't be without him. In addition to calling him 'scum,''Nate Morris recently said about McConnell — a man Kentuckians have elected to the Senate for almost as long as Morris has been alive — that he 'completely pulled his pants down for President Biden' when negotiating. When asked on KET about the president's potential abuse of the legal system — ignoring the right of habeas corpus, for instance — Andy Westberry said flatly to former Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth, 'well, you all started it.' A 9-year-old in the backseat of his parents' car comes to mind. And Scott Jennings — also rumored to be considering a run for McConnell's seat — has a book coming out with a title casting the president as the savior of Western Civilization, illustrating what happens when you're a grown man who has to not only drink all of Dear Leader's KoolAid but stir up a new pitcher and guzzle more than the other guys. It is 2025. Kids are in crisis. Adults are in crisis. We need mature leaders. But we now live in a world where the man whose name is on the Kentucky GOP headquarters is proudly called 'scum' by his own party members, and the man who started his first presidency with the arrogant pledge that he can grab any woman he wants 'by the pussy' is Kentucky's GOP kingmaker. I have bad news. The Republicans who want to represent you in the U.S. Senate are engaged in a sophomoric, cage-match, hazing ritual, and the one on the ballot in 2026 will be the one willing to humiliate himself the most. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
The Independent
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Mark Levin rages at ex-Fox colleague Tucker Carlson as MAGA-on-MAGA violence breaks out: ‘You little b*stard!'
Mark Levin and Tucker Carlson, two of the top pro-Trump commentators in the right-wing media ecosystem who also happen to be former Fox News colleagues, are currently embroiled in a war of words that has now seen one call the other a 'schmuck' and a 'little b*stard.' The tête-à-tête began last week when Levin, a Fox News host whom Donald Trump recently appointed to the 'revamped' Homeland Security Advisory Council, took issue with recent comments Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made to MAGA outlet Breitbart. 'The Neocon element believes that war is the only way to solve things,' Witkoff said in the interview. 'The president believes that his force of personality, the way he is going to respond to certain situations, can bend people to do things in a better way in the interests of the United States government.' Levin, a hawkish right-winger who still believed in the WMD rationale for war in Iraq in 2014, reacted to the interview by claiming Witkoff 'talks like the fifth column isolationists' before saying he waited with 'great interest' on the deal the envoy was negotiating with Iran. 'In the meantime, rather than sloganeering against patriotic Americans who love our country, use your name-calling for the terrorist regime that has murdered Americans, tried to assassinate our president, chants death to America, and has lied its way toward a nuclear bomb,' Levin added before tweeting: 'By the way, neocon is a pejorative for Jew. Unbelievable.' It was this claim that using the term 'neocon' is somehow antisemitic – both Levin and Witkoff are Jewish – that prompted a response from Carlson, who has become the 'king of the isolationists' in the American conservative movement. Carlson, who was fired from Fox News in 2023, said that his former employer 'basically seems to turn its programming over to advocating for a war with Iran' before ridiculing Levin for his taking offense at Witkoff's take on the 'neocon element' in the GOP. 'So you have Mark Levin calling Steve Witkoff an antisemite. We've reached peak crazy, I mean, I think Witkoff is Jewish, right?' Carlson asked his guest Dave Smith, a comedian turned foreign policy critic. 'If Mark Levin is calling the Trump administration antisemitic, Steve Witkoff, we're at the end of something and the beginning of something new,' Carlson added. 'If you're calling Steve Witkoff an anti-Semite on Twitter, like, you know you're losing, right?' Carlson, who said he didn't call Levin because he would just be 'scolded' by the 'screaming' host, likely knew that the conservative pundit was going to return fire, especially since Levin spends much of his airtime raging at his critics. And that's exactly what happened this week. Midway through his syndicated radio show on Tuesday, Levin launched into an over-the-top tirade in which he repeatedly referred to his former Fox News cohort by the nickname deceased conservative radio star Rush Limbaugh bestowed on Carlson – Chatsworth Osborne Jr. 'So schmuck picks a fight with me, doesn't call me,' Levin fumed. 'You see, all the neocons are gone. So why do they keep using the word neoconservative? Notice they don't use hawk, interventionist. Neocon! Why do they keep saying neocon? Because many of the neoconservatives were old time, left-wing, Democrat Jews!' Continuing his explanation for why the term neocon is anti-Jewish, Levin said: 'Chatsworth knows it. I know it, and many of the people that use that phrase either don't know what they're talking about, but in the magazines and on the internet, they know it. So they're not going to say the Jews are dragging us into a war, they'll say Israel is, Netanyahu is. They're not gonna say the Jews this and the Jews that, so they use neocon.' Levin proceeded to use the next few minutes to claim that wanting to stop the 'Islamo-Nazi regime in Iran' means 'you're not a warmonger' but rather 'a peacemaker, only to bring it back around to Carlson's attacks on him. 'But I don't have to pretend I'm Helen Keller! That I don't see and I don't hear, and neither do you! And neither do you. And there's a whole pattern over there, with Chatsworth Osborne Jr., a whole pattern,' he raged. 'Now he's free to do what he wants. I believe in free speech. Go ahead, buy a subscription. Do whatever you want, it's perfectly fine by me. But don't screw with me, you little bastard, by twisting my words,' Levin concluded. 'And you should have picked up the phone because I would have cleared things up for you.' This isn't the first time that there's been tension between Carlson and Levin. When they were both hosting Fox News shows, Levin took issue with the now-former primetime star for being a frequent source for mainstream journalists. At the time, Ben Smith – then a New York Times columnist – revealed that despite his self-portrayal as the sworn enemy of the media establishment, Carlson had regularly dished to reporters about Fox and Trump. 'Now, I could go further into this, I'm not going to. That is a serious misunderstanding of one's role, of loyalty, and character. Let me leave it at that,' Levin said about Carlson in 2021.
