Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon blast 'Israel First' at fractious Maga conference Submitted by Imran Mulla on Sun, 12/21/2025 - 11:28 The Turning Point USA conference descended into chaos amid debates over Israel and controversial commentator Nick Fuentes Conservative political commentator and podcast host Tucker Carlson speaks at Turning Point USA's annual AmericaFest conference on 18 December 2025 (AFP) Off A major conservative convention in the US has descended into chaos as key figures within the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement criticise " Israel First" policies. The right-wing organisation Turning Point USA is holding America Fest this week, in its first large gathering since the killing of its founder, Charlie Kirk , earlier this year. The convention, which began on Thursday and is ongoing, comes as tensions grow between prominent right-wing commentators and influencers over the question of American support for Israel. During a speech, popular pro-Israel podcaster Ben Shapiro attacked former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his interview with right-wing influencer Nick Fuentes, who regularly criticises Israel. Shapiro said Carlson's recent decision to interview Fuentes was "an act of moral imbecility". He called Fuentes a "Hitler apologist, Nazi-loving, anti-American piece of refuse". But Carlson hit back in his own speech , attacking what he described as attempts to suppress speech that is critical of Israel. "Most Americans have more in common with each other than they disagree on," he said. "And almost everybody agrees on that. And almost everybody is willing to tolerate a good-faith argument about how to get there." Carlson continued: "Except a few, and they're the ones running around calling everyone an antisemite. "But everyone else is like, yeah, of course, that should be the debate." 'God is not on any country’s side' Carlson also took aim at Israel, saying: "If a man commits a crime, do we kill his kids? I don’t care if it’s in Minneapolis or Gaza City. No, we don’t." He added that "God is not on any country’s side". He criticised anti-Muslim bigotry, saying: "What you're watching now, attacking people on the... attacking millions of Americans because they're Muslims? It's disgusting." "And I'm a Christian. I am not a Muslim. I'm never going to... I know there's a lot of effort to claim I'm a secret jihadi. I'm not," he added. "You should not attack people on those grounds. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Middle East Eye (@middleeasteye) "What the hell are you doing? What you're doing is trying to divide the country. And I've lived through 50 years of this crap. "All these fake race wars that they're always promoting. Oh, go hate each other while we loot the treasury. That's exactly what's going on. And most people are totally sick of that." 'It revolves around Israel' Steve Bannon, former White House strategist for US President Donald Trump, also stoked controversy by saying that Charlie Kirk opposed "this concept of greater Israel and Israel first". Bannon went further and denounced Shapiro. "Ben Shapiro is like a cancer, and that cancer spreads," Bannon declared to cheers from the crowd. Later, he was filmed saying: "The number one enemy to the people in Israel are American Jews that do not support Israel and do not support Maga... the biggest enemy you have are inside the wire, progressive Jewish billionaires." He said the American right supported Israel. Meanwhile, broadcaster Megan Kelly said that "there was a rift [within the Maga movement] even before we lost Charlie… and it revolves around Israel". Erica Kirk, Charlie Kirk's wife and the new leader of Turning Point, endorsed US Vice President JD Vance for a 2028 White House run on Thursday. Vance is set to address the conference on Sunday. US Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0