Tucker Carlson’s New ‘Protocols’ and Newsom’s Pivot

Political commentator Tucker Carlson’s longtime agenda of questioning U.S. support for Israel and California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new one picked up steam these past few days. And as we see it, both are alarming signs that antisemitism in America is becoming more mainstream by the day. In fact, last week Carlson went way beyond his usual diatribes and floated his own version of the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Despite its remarkably productive military partnership with the U.S. in confronting Iran and its cutting-edge technology, scientific achievement and military prowess, Carlson regularly describes Israel as a “net burden” and a “completely insignificant country” that lacks natural resources.

Incredibly, he also argues that the U.S. has “no overriding strategic interest in its relationship with Israel, claiming that the latter provides “nothing” but costs to Washington. Go tell that to the ayatollahs.

He argues that the U.S. relationship with Qatar is “so much more important” than its relationship with Israel.

He says that Israel covertly manipulates American foreign policy for its own agenda through “manufactured intelligence.”

And he has questioned the loyalties of U.S. officials such as Ambassador Mike Huckabee, accusing them of representing Israeli interests over American ones.

Further, in his latest narrative, he suggests that Chabad is the “hidden hand” orchestrating military strikes on Iran. He posits that the goal of this “religious war” is to destroy sites claimed to be holy, like the Al-Aqsa Mosque – to clear the way for a Third Temple in Jerusalem. To bolster this, he pointed to novelty uniform patches worn by some Israeli soldiers – falsely attributing them to Chabad.

It should be noted that Carlson offers no hard evidence to support what in the final analysis are only his own opinions.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a presumptive 2028 Democratic presidential frontrunner, has fundamentally altered his foreign policy posture with recent sharp criticisms of Israel. In a significant departure from his previous staunch support, Newsom’s latest rhetoric signals a calculated alignment with the shifting center of the Democratic Party.

During an appearance last week on a podcast to promote his memoir, Newsom leveled several severe charges against the Israeli government. Thus, Newsom and Times columnist Thomas Friedman are “appropriately” referring to Israel as “sort of an apartheid state.”

He went on to suggest that the U.S. may have “no choice” but to reconsider its longstanding support for Israel.

Newsom accused Prime Minister Netanyahu of bamboozling the Trump administration into a war with Iran to serve his own domestic political interests and avoid personal legal troubles.

He also questioned the logic of a “regime change” war in Iran, pointing out that Israel has struggled for two years to solve the Hamas problem.

And Newsom recently declared with great pride that he has never taken – and “never will” take – money from AIPAC, positioning himself as independent of traditional pro-Israel donor networks.

By adopting the “apartheid” label, Newsom has moved from being a moderate ally of Israel to a leading voice for the progressive wing’s skepticism of the U.S.-Israel alliance. While he frames his shift as “heartbreaking” necessity driven by Netanyahu’s leadership, it serves as a clear signal that the 2028 Democratic primary will likely feature a much more combative stance toward America’s traditional Middle East ally.