Tucker Carlson and Joe Kent for president?  

Tucker Carlson, most people know, is one of the biggest conservative commentators there is. Joe Kent, former head of counterterrorism, is a newer name for most; he resigned from the administration because he opposes the war with Iran, thinks there was no intelligence suggesting Iran was capable of striking the U.S., and believes that Israel is dragging the U.S. into conflict. Here was Kent over the weekend explaining why he decided to speak up. 

Mike Cernovich then writes on X: “A Tucker Carlson / Joe Kent ticket would steam roll anything Democrats or Republicans could bring. It’s laughable when people try to argue this with me. Spend some time offline. Good looking, physically fit white men are back ‘in.’” 

Candace Owens replied: “Unbeatable ticket.” 

Meanwhile, the mainstream conservative media is busy denouncing Kent as some kind of traitor for daring to speak up against this war. Mainstream Republicans have convinced themselves that it’s wildly popular, everybody’s for it. They’ll cite, for instance, polling that shows MAGA has President Trump’s back no matter what.  

Yes, it’s true that Trump’s supporters trust him and back him, and that they want the intervention in Iran to succeed. I’m against intervention, but I want it to succeed. I want the mass executions of dissenters in Iran to end. I want tyrannical, authoritarian, extremist Islam to die off as a model of governance in the Middle East. I want America’s enemies to surrender or perish. We are all hoping for the best. 

But it’s one thing to support Trump and stand with him as he confronts Iran. It’s another to express concerns about this turning into another forever war, something Vice President Vance is keenly aware will be a liability for the next GOP presidential candidate. Because it’s not going to be Trump — he’s not running for re-election again. And just because the voters trust Trump to get the job done in the Middle East does not mean they will continue to have broad enthusiasm for the idea of regime change and long-term involvement under the auspices of a Vance or Rubio administration. 

But supporters of regime change and intervention just refuse to hear that. They just continue not to engage with the substance of what Carlson and Kent are saying.  

Here, for instance, was Lindsey Graham talking to Bill O’Reilly. Note Graham’s sleight of hand — he says Kent is lying about the intelligence. When O’Reilly asks why he would do that, Graham says it’s because he hates the Jews.  

He obviously does not — he disagrees with the government of Israel. The Jewish people and Israel, particularly the Netanyahu administration, are not synonymous. You can support and love Israel without co-signing what Benjamin Netanyahu is doing. Graham has no evidence whatsoever to establish that Joe Kent hates Jews. Kent said the government of Israel, not Jews, have misled the Trump administration. Then Graham has the audacity to accuse others of spreading misinformation. Everything he just said was misinformation! 

Bottom line: While I don’t expect Tucker Carlson and Joe Kent to run for president, I’m warning you, neocons: You are writing off serious skepticism of this war, pretending it doesn’t exist and pretending it’s just all anti-Semitism. It’s not true, it’s not going to work, and when the time comes for the American people to actually vote on a post-Trump candidate, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening. 

Robby Soave is co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising” and a senior editor for Reason Magazine. This column is an edited transcription of his daily commentary. 

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